3D Printing News

A roundup of the top 3D printing news from May 7 to May 11:

Tuesday, May 7

• 3DLT Launches at TechCrunch Disrupt After Challenging Past
• Video: Cody Wilson of Defense Distributed Launches 3D Printed Gun

Thursday, May 9

• Breaking: US Government Takes Down 3D Printed Gun Plans

Saturday, May 11

• Obama Announces $200 Million Program for 3D Printing and Innovation

3DLT Launches 3D Printing Marketplace

3DLT, a 3D printing marketplace that was accused of stealing designs and subsequently issued a mea culpa, has rebounded and officially launched. Wearing a tuxedo, founder and CEO Pablo Arellano, Jr. pitched on stage during the battlefield round at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York.

3DLT describes itself as a marketplace where industrial designers, companies, and makers can sell 3D printable designs, direct to consumers.

“The 3D printing market needs a retail marketplace where consumers can buy print-ready designs,” said 3DLT’s Founder and CEO, Pablo Arellano, Jr. “With all of the interest in 3D printing, and the sheer number of 3D printers being sold, there will  soon be a huge demand for content, and that’s what 3DLT provides.”

Lux Research predicts 3D printing will be an $8.4 billion industry by 2025, up from under $1 billion in 2012. Research firm Gartner believes that enterprise-class printers priced below $2,000 will be available in the market from as early as 2016, and some low-end printers, including the MakiBox, are already available for less than $200.

3DLT provides files – the blueprints for 3D printable products. Consumers can visit 3DLT.com and browse through multiple, well-curated categories of 3D printable designs. Once purchased, they can download and print-ready files on their own 3D printer. They can also send the designs they buy to 3DLT’s network of 3D print shops for local pickup or drop shipment directly to their door.

3DLT’s business model has the potential to change the way we shop,” Mr. Arellano said. Walmart made shopping easier by putting millions of products, all under one roof, closer to the consumer. Amazon took the next step of delivering to your doorstep. 3DLT goes even further by allowing you to choose, when, where, and how the items you buy are manufactured.”

Watch Arellano pitch at TechCrunch Disrupt in the video below.

A roundup of the top news On 3D Printing brought you from February 5 to February 10:

Tuesday, February 5

• UK Retailer Sainsbury’s Sees Disruption to Retail in 3D Printing

Wednesday, February 6

• NPR Discusses 3D Printed Guns on Morning Edition

Yesterday, Wired reported that a new 3D printing design marketplace called 3DLT was accused of selling stolen merchandise, i.e., designs, on its site.

Designer and co-founder of Nervous System, Jessica Rosencrantz, was surprised to learn that some of her fashion designs were being sold on 3DLT. Wired interviewed Rosencrantz:

“They never contacted us,” she says. “I had never heard of them until someone sent me the link last night to ask me if it was legitimate.”

The designs at issue are five of 3DLT’s fashion offerings (until recently, the entire fashion category). “They changed the names and descriptions but are using our images,” says Rosencrantz, “They claim to have the STL files for these designs, but I guarantee they do not. The last design they show — ‘circle necklace’ (our name ‘Radiolaria Necklace’) — isn’t even 3-D printed.”

Today, 3DLT CEO Pablo Arellano Jr. issued an apology on the site.

3DLT.com is currently in private beta. The site is not yet live and we are still testing the platform. We recently had an issue where the eCommerce portion of our site was activated and exposed to the public. Some of the products and images on the site were being used as placeholders and were not approved for use. These products and images have been removed from our site. Two orders were placed. The users have been contacted, informed of the issue and will be refunded any monies due.

We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. We take this situation seriously and will ensure that upon launch, all of our designer onboarding processes are clearly documented and available for public viewing, including our process for vetting design files.

We apologize again for any inconvenience and have put the site on hold until our development team fixes the matter.

So was this simply an innocent mistake? It definitely calls attention to the issues of copyright and piracy in 3D printing.