We have an update after 20 days of MakerWorld Open Beta. We appreciate all the constructive feedback and comments we received.
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Love how they say āacquiredā
Yeah, I found that humorous too.
Wellā¦ I have to give Bambu Lab credit where credit is due. They at least listen and respond to their customers and more importantly, they are outcompeting based on innovation not simply price. That is very un-Chinese like where the dominant business philosophy is characterized by the term Shanzhai" (å±±åÆØ).
If Bambu Lab is reading this post then I have a word of advice for them. Stay focused on the path that youāre on and continue to innovate and provide a better product at a better price. Thatās what Japan did in the 70s and 80s when prior to that they competed using their own version of Shanzhai. Back in the day āMade in Japanā meant shoddy and cheap workmanship. The Japanese government quickly realized that was a bad approach and corrected it. That single step is what changed perceptions and made in Japan when from perceived as junk to quality.
Bambu, you have the daunting task of having to overcome the bias the west has that Chinese companies are in the business of intellectual property theft. This notion of āacquiringā models, while totally legal and within the confines of the share-alike ethos, in your case, its not a good look because it simply looks like your stealing hard fought content from another site.
On that subject, the explanation of Bean Overlord. Your explanation is logical but a little too little, too late. This is not a good look for you and any Western Public Relations professional will tell you that. This whole shenanigans reinforces the stereotype of Chinese imitation and steal it if you canāt invent it. It would be a shame given the short and positive track record you have so far to squander that good will on a silly website.
Imitate only where itās absolutely necessary such as user interface but absolutely do not copy content from another site using a bot. Thatās a line that should not be crossed. Now mind you, this is very different from a contributor uploading a build they uploaded on Printables.com or Thingiverse.com and deciding to also share it here. In that case, it is the decision of the content creator that makes all the difference. What you folks did was spam your own site with fake user activity and then your people gave an implausible explanation that sounded like you had to walk back. Again, not a good look.
Remember this, although you may have had the best intentions, perception is reality. Just ask the former VP of marketing at Budweiser. 
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Itās about as likely that someone will give me a good design job for free (Yes, it happens, but it is rare and they are really very generous people) as Bambulab will send me a printer for freeā¦
With my very limited knowledge, there are still very good reasons why I never would upload anything to Makerworld
Patent, copyright and trademark law ā from private to commercial, things change very quickly by income. Publishing something is no longer necessarily private. Whether something was published for free is already discussed in other cases when Google Adsence is used on the hosting platform by the site operator.
Now a platform from a 3D printer manufacturer with entry-level printers with a direct upload link in the slicer, pretty brave. Iām not an expert but It`s hardly to believe that a link to the terms and conditions will be sufficient in such a case - if it is even pointed out thereā¦ So thatās ātemptation times 3ā from inexperienced for self-interested business development.
Bambulab users do not necessarily use commercial CAD licensesā¦Makerworld a non-commercial siteā¦?
Well, itās up to the companies when and whether they want to break up or walk in with action. They have 70 years to do this. And you donāt have to spend long explaining to CAD giants like Autodesk what rights they haveā¦
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