[sdiy] Lockout / DRM chips?

[Benjamin Tremblay]

I would do DRM if there were no other choices. It would sort of make the equivalent of software licenses for hardware, I get it.
But it’s wasteful. Certs expire, and the DRM licensing engine has a cost.

I would prefer that we see the development of desktop publishing for silicon. Cook up an SSM chip clone at the ol’ maker space.

We can’t replicate every nuance of fabrication in one simple, affordable machine. But maybe we could have a generic machine that fabs your design. 
I know I’m talking crazy talk here. But being able to cheaply fab bespoke ICs might actually be worth the R&D to develop. 
Just a few, modest hurdles like cooking silicon with toxic chemicals.  But hell, there will be so many data centers in your back yard, who will notice?
Then it matters less that we have vintage, authentic chips, and it matters more that we can search GitHub for chip designs we might use.

Benjamin Tremblay