Nanofabricators, DRM and Forced Scarcity

[cptbutton]

Originally Posted by Langy

Open source hardware may not exist if there's only one manufacturer of the nanofac with a monopoly on the process, or the government mandates the draconian DRM measures.

I think this is an important part of making this setting work. Open source is illegal, or so restricted as to be unimportant.

The rationalizations for this can be various, but the real reason is that the government says so. Probably because IP producers don't want the competition.

And a nanofab that will accept any plan that hasn't been properly tagged is itself extremely illegal.

Possible rationalizations:

Liability: Open source stuff has not been properly checked for safety, and when you are crippled by your toaster, who is going to pay your medical bills?

Open Source is something those evil baby-eating infosocialists who want to kill us all believe in!

The public domain does not exist, or rather the government owns anything not specifically owned by someone else. How else will they pay for all their vital services without all those toaster royalties?

Open source plans could actually be for bioweapons or illegal hacking gear or other Bad Stuff. Only properly cleared and tagged stuff can be trusted. And the process of getting cleared is so onerous and expensive that no one can afford to do it if they don't charge for the final product.