Actually, ARM designs microprocessors, physical IP, and related technology and software.

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Other tools, such as Maxmind, would help find out the physical location of a particular IP address, he said.

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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.

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