The controversial The Pirate Bay known for making copyright material available launched a new category: “Physibles”. Alongside the usual categories like music, films and ebooks, the site now offers digital objects that can be created with a 3D printer.

Essentially, 3D printers allow for the printing of three-dimensional objects by melting and fusing bits of plastic, layer by layer. These printers are still the domain of hobbyist, but soon improvements in the technology mean more complex materials and shapes will soon be possible. In theory, you could download a design file of anything imaginable and the 3D printer could create it.

The site writes in a blog post:

“We believe that the next step in copying will be made from digital form into physical form. It will be physical objects. Or as we decided to call them: Physibles. Data objects that are able (and feasible) to become physical. We believe that things like three dimensional printers, scanners and such are just the first step. We believe that in the nearby future you will print your spare sparts for your vehicles. You will download your sneakers within 20 years.

The benefit to society is huge. No more shipping huge amount of products around the world. No more shipping the broken products back. No more child labour. We’ll be able to print food for hungry people. We’ll be able to share not only a recipe, but the full meal. We’ll be able to actually copy that floppy, if we needed one.”

It may take some time before this idea becomes feasible, but The Pirate Bay’s move (and that of other filesharing sites) can fuel the development of better and cheaper 3D printers bringing them into peoples homes. If the music industry serves as an indicator, not so long ago iPod’s and MP3 players were a niche market until “free” music from Napster and other P2P sites became available.