For added network safety, the Cloud Storage 4000 features the D-Link Surveillance Station App, which supports recording and playback of up to four IP cameras, such as D-Link's award-winning line-up of mydlink enabled cloud cameras.

ENGADGET: D-Link Cloud Storage 4000 NAS stores up 16TB, hooks up to your smartphone and tablet

And the first rumblings of a rights-management system for controlling the sharing of physical things are appearing: The IP-hoarding firm Intellectual Ventures received a patent in October for a 3-D printer feature that blocks the creation of verboten objects.

FORBES: Inside Thingiverse, The Radically Open Website Powering The 3D Printing Movement