# Key Points from #hplusroadmap IRC Discussions

• Patent law concerns were raised regarding legal liability for building patented technologies even for educational or private use, with participants noting that explicit permission is required to avoid potential lawsuits.

• Designfiles.org experienced a temporary shutdown due to a DMCA takedown notice from Vince Gingery sent through the University of Texas, highlighting intellectual property tensions in open hardware.

• The MIT Modular Tools for Manufacturing (MTM) project was shared (http://mtm.cba.mit.edu/machines/mtm_az/index.html) as a potential resource for creating circuit boards using open-source plans.

• A New York Times article on self-measurement and the quantified self movement was discussed, showing growing interest in personal biometric tracking and analysis.

• Tab Candy, an innovative Firefox feature for tab management, was discussed as potentially revolutionary enough to make traditional bookmarks obsolete.

• Fantasy sports was analyzed as a billion-dollar industry with special exemptions from gambling laws, effectively functioning as a prediction market with participation from 22% of U.S. adult males with internet access.

• Cory Doctorow's "After the Siege" was shared, a story exploring the dystopian potential of intellectual property enforcement through military means, reflecting concerns about IP overreach.