<p>Should we really close this question:  <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/10200/3d-printer-part-clones-from-china-legality">3d printer part clones from china - legality</a>..? </p>

<p>Are legal questions on topic? We have a legal section in the <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/276/game-plan-what-is-on-topic">Game plan - What is on-topic?</a> and a <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/legal" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;legal&#39;" rel="tag">legal</a> tag.</p>

I say allow them.
To let you know what's out there, I work at
Hyrel
.
Our printers can take
spindle (milling) heads and additional axes
, and even
diode
and
CO2 lasers
, and they all operate on the same gcode - we tell people E is for Emit as well as Extrude. We even have a
TIG welding
attachment.
We also run our
Fadal CNC machines
on our printer software and firmware.
To many people this is a natural progression for a well-built 3D positioning system, and I encourage a broader definition.