Bambu Lab is facing renewed scrutiny over its Bambu Studio software after the Software Freedom Conservancy identified two violations of the AGPLv3 license. The nonprofit organization investigated the company's practices and found that Bambu Lab bundled a proprietary networking library called bambu_networking without releasing the required source code. This action directly conflicts with the terms of the open-source license governing the slicer software.
The Software Freedom Conservancy identifies two license breaches and initiates a replacement fork effort
The conservancy also cited aggressive legal pressure applied to independent developer Paweł Jarczak regarding his OrcaSlicer fork. Bambu Lab demanded that he remove changes from GitHub and falsely claimed that its terms of service override AGPLv3 protections. The organization stated that these scare tactics violated a specific clause prohibiting further restrictions on exercising rights granted under the license.
Public pressure from figures like Louis Rossmann and outlets such as Gamers Nexus prompted Bambu Lab to backtrack on its previous stance. A company representative expressed regret that references to legal context and potential cease-and-desist actions were perceived as threats, stating this was not the intended outcome of their communications. The software maker folded under the combined pressure from the conservancy and the broader community.
In response to these findings, the Software Freedom Conservancy launched a reverse-engineering initiative named baltobu. This project aims to create replacement forks for proprietary networking libraries and maintain dedicated versions of OrcaSlicer and Bambu Studio. The organization successfully raised $250,007 to hire staff and volunteers to support this multi-pronged effort aimed at improving software rights for 3D printer consumers.
Source: NotebookCheck
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