Law Commons^™

Ready, Print, Fire! Regulating The 3d-Printing Revolution, Joseph J. Pantella Iv

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

"This Article argues that governments ought to proactively consider preemptive legislative or regulatory actions regarding 3D printing. To accomplish this objective this Article looks at the concepts of “permissionless innovation” and the “precautionary principle.” These concepts represent opposing ends of the regulatory spectrum; the former promoting a “wait-and-see” approach while the latter promotes a preemptive or preventative approach to government regulation. After defining these terms the Article will describe the characteristics of technologies that lend themselves either to permissionless innovation or to the precautionary principle. It will provide a few specific areas where policies of each type have been employed, …