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Lexmark Invokes DMCA in Toner Suit
Rhyas writes "Seems as though Lexmark has decided it wants all the pie when it comes to the printing world, as they are suing a company that does reselling of chips that allow third party toner cartridges to work in Lexmark printers. Cindy Cohn, an attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said she expected more cases like the one brought by Lexmark. 'We have long said that the DMCA's potential use as an anti-competitive tool has been great,' Cohn said. 'Now we're seeing it happen.'" The European Union is taking action against the practice of embedding chips in printer cartridges which make it difficult for third parties to sell refills.
The European Union is taking action against the practice of embedding chips in printer cartridges which make it difficult for third parties to sell refills.
While passing its own version of the DMCA, ironically enough.
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It would also seem that since you are talking about allowing other cartridges to be used in the printer, you are definitely talking interoperability. This would fall under the DMCA exclusion anyway. (IANAL and all that)
If the court ruling goes in favour of Lexmark, rather than in favour of common sense (you can put whatever toner you like in your printer, right? It's your printer after all), then the extension of the ruling to other cases is inevitable.
This means that there is the potential for manufacturers of other products that have consumables associated with them (your car, say) to put methods (a funny-shaped fuel filler, say) in to ensure that you can only use their consumables (fuel), and that a circumvention device (plastic funnel) so that you can use other consumables (fuel) will be ruled illegal.
Like car accidents, most hardware problems are due to driver error.
So would it be fair for Ford to require you to purchase Ford-brand tires and the only thing that distiguishes Ford-brand tires from regular tires is a chip that "authenticates" the tires as being Ford. Also, these tires are $3000 for a change of four. Better yet, only being able to buy engine parts that were only Ford-brand and the only that thing distiguishes them is an authetication chip. This is why this law needs to die a bloody death.
HT
So, let printer prices rise. Then we can have some nice competition among printer makers, as opposed to this mess.
And if people complain? Let them complain. At least the prices they'll deal with will be somewhat more honest, as will the business practices that involve dealing with the customer and the market, not the courts.
"The Sage treasures Unity and measures all things by it" - Lao Tzu
Only if you signed a contract with Ford that stated you would only buy their tires. Otherwise, you own the car and have the right to use whatever tires you want.
I don't have a problem with Lexmark making it technically difficult for competitors. I do have a problem when they use copyright, a government enforced monopoly on the software, to extend that monopoly into another market, i.e. the ink cartridge replacement market.
I feel like picking a fight with everyone who thinks they are right. - Rainmakers
Remember IBM typewriter ribbons?
Yeah, I remember those. And, you know what happened to IBM's printer and typewriter division? That's right, it was spun off into (da da da dum)... Lexmark.
It's not surprising, really.
In Soviet Russia, Jesus asks: "What Would You Do?"