Update – MakerBot has published an update to change the language of the MakerBot Print EULA.
Just last week, MakerBot announced a new product lineup—hardware and software included—geared towards professionals and educators that MakerBot CEO Jonathan Jaglom said was the result of a “cultural shift” at the company as they gained further insight into the specific needs of the professional market.
Among other new products announced by the company includes MakerBot Print, a free piece of software designed to optimize the 3D printing process for the professional’s workflow including the ability to print native CAD files and manage or share files through the Cloud.
But according to a concerned SolidSmack reader (name withheld), something fishy is going on with the Terms of Use for the Print software:
“The terms of use for the new MakerBot Print software requires that all benchmark results be pre-approved by MakerBot. They also preclude “public performance” or use in a service bureau. Does that mean that you can’t teach a class with MakerBot software at the public library?”
Specifically, the reader is referring to the following sections of the LICENSE RESTRICTIONS clause:
You shall not:
(b) sell, assign, lease, lend, rent, issue, sublicense, make available, or otherwise distribute to any third party, or publicly perform, display or communicate, the Licensed Software, or otherwise use the Licensed Software in a time-sharing, outsourcing, or service bureau environment.
and:
(g) disclose to the public the results of any internal performance testing or benchmarking studies of or about the Licensed Software, without first sending the results and related study(ies) to MakerBot, and obtaining MakerBot’s written approval of the assumptions, methodologies and other parameters of the testing or study.
You can read the entire EULA here (last updated September 14th, 2016).
In other words, does this mean that setting up the software and posting estimated print times in a public library when teaching something as simple as designing and printing rocket derby cars goes against the software license? Or, is this simply terms for an embargoed product during the software beta which have yet to be updated?
To put the seriousness of this into perspective, these sections are mashed directly between (You shall not) copy or reproduce the Licensed Software and (You shall not) publish or transmit any robot, malware, Trojan horse, spyware, or similar malicious item intended (or that has the potential) to damage or disrupt the Licensed Software.
If these terms are a slip-up (and we hope they are), we expect they’ll issue an update. If not? Well, this new “educator-friendly” ecosystem might be not so friendly after all.
We received a response from MakerBot that changes have been made to the latest version of their MakerBot Print End User License Agreement.
We’ve clarified our intent on the language for both provisions referenced in SolidSmack’s article and want to note specifically that the language restricting publishing benchmarking studies without MakerBot’s approval was intended only for beta versions of products.
We have always and will continue to welcome public 3D printing demonstrations and benchmarking of our products. MakerBot is dedicated to listening to our customers and constantly improving, and we greatly appreciate you and your readers bringing this to our attention.
