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Lexmark DMCA Case Winds On
The EFF filed a brief (brief, press release) in the ongoing case over Lexmark incorporating copyright-protected code in their printer cartridges in order to prevent competitors from producing compatible cartridges for their printers. The BBC notes some of the harmful effects of lack of competition in the industry.
I used to work for a Printer supplies wholesaler and we had a supplier called MultiLaser that would Chip the Lexmark cartridges to be able to recycle them. Lexmark also had this prebate program where you would get a rebate if you agreed not to sell to recyclers.
There's acctually a big differene in Lexmark printers out there. Don't ever buy one from their home line of printers. I had one and it was broke after my first year of college. Their business class printers however are pretty decent. A friend of mine interned with them working on the business class drivers and claimed they were really good printers, but the home models sucked.
Remember Nintendo vs. Namco? Nintendo sued Namco for putting their copyrighted data sequence into their games so that they would work in the NES. Nintendo won the lawsuit, and this was years before the DMCA came out.
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
Whilst I don't see a problem with forcing consumers to use your ink cartridges I think the Printers should be well labeled so that consumers know what they are buying into.
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Very interesting. It occurs to me that this could potentially have broader applications in either possible outcome. The thing I can't believe is why Lexmark doesn't just come out and apologize for doing something dumb. Putting chips like this in printer cartridges to begin with is nothing more than a dirty trick. Has anyone heard anything about the anti trust case against Lexmark that was filed by scc? Or was it thrown out?
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There are so many players in the inkjet printer space that they are sometimes shooting themselves in the foot by going with this model. No manufacturer can offer printers at cost now because nobody would pay $250 for an inkjet. But at the same time, they lose money like crazy on certain types of buyers. Business travelers often buy a cheap printer at their destination rather than pack one. Consumers often get a new printer with each new computer they buy because the added cost in negligible. There are so many used printers out there, that they often cannot be given away.
The industry itself would benifit from reform in this area. However, to make it happen, all manufacturers will have to charge more for printers and less for cartridges. If even one player sticks with the old model, that player will see all the gains.
I have avoided owning an inkjet because of the unreasonable consumables costs. I am glad that the EU will be investigating the cartel of printer manufacturers for illegal price fixing.
If I were to purchase an inkjet, which model can be easily and cheaply refilled, and carries a durable printhead?
I'd like to buy the ink by the liter, and I'd like the color match of the ink to be reasonably close to the OEM cartriges.
Also, wasn't Dell going to enter this market and cut the price of the consumables?
Any more ideas?
I found the meaning of life the other day, but I had write-only access.
It would seem that the market would *love* a printer that would use generic commodity ink. Make a few bucks on the printer and let the rest of the industry battle out the ink pricing.
A while ago, I modified an Epson to use large generic ink from a bottle (500mL each color). The printer dies before the ink ever ran out. Perhaps someone could manufacture a disposable printer? Just fill it with a crazy supply of ink and lock that bad boy up.
This $50/cartridge thing has to stop sooner or later. Some manufacturer will realize that consumers will *pay* for a quality piece that doesn't institute the Gillete sales model.
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
All printer companies seem to use the same business model for consumer printers- sell the printer for practically nothing, and make the money on the cartridges.
Is it just me, or does it seem like there has to be some meeting of the minds among the manufacturers to keep it that way? I mean, why isn't there some rebel manufacturer making printers that cost 3 or 4 times as much, but take bulk ink/toner that would cost practically nothing?
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Watch out for full color pages or dark backgrounds.I recently replaced an Epson 800 with a Canon i850, and have been very pleased with it. Unlike Epson et all, which use chips or drivers to tell you/guess where the ink level is, Canon printers (possibly uniquely? i don't know) actually have a prism in the bottom of each cartridge, and shine a light through this. depending on whether this is covered with ink or not, from the refraction changes it can deduce how much ink is in there. thus it's actially *looking*, which seems to be the right way to do things... Anyway, i bought a big pack of ink and when they run out i'll be squirting more in with a syringe.. i've done it on someone else's printer and they never complained so i guess it worked :)
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According to ThisIsLondon, Ink for home printers are 7 times more expensive than vintage champagne.
They also claim that ignoring low ink warnings can double the life of ink cartridges. I wish I could ignore the warnings, as my Lexmark printer forbids me to print once 75% of ink is gone!
Those greedy pigs!
/usr/bin/complain >
Dell's inkjets are just rebadged Lexmarks.
Actually, the HP DesignJet 5500 does track ink usage and will not let you print when the cartrige goes empty. It does this to prevent air from getting into the lines that feed ink to the print heads. If air gets into those lines you're in for an expensive repair. There are companies that sell ink refill kits, but it stops the printers ability to track ink usage (because the ink level becomes unknown) and the printer can't tell when the cartriges should be replaced. I'd recommend sticking with genuine HP supplies.
.:diatonic:.
Both HP and Lexmark cartridges are so expensive, in part, because the print head and some of it's intelligence is built into the cartridge.
I'm talking about the typical consumer-grade desktop kind that print to standard cut-sheet paper, not special ones like wide-format pro printers.
Anyone who buys a consumer-grade inkjet printer is a freakin' moron who deserves the buttroggering they received in the process.
Print in B&W on a cheap laser printer, and take your color work to Kinkos if you can't afford your own color laser printer. I've been doing just that for 2 years now and it costs me so much less money, for much greater quality print, and the occasional trips to Kinkos for the color laser print work is not all that inconvenient at all... besides there are 3 really cute chicks who work there.
Computer & Communications Industry Association also filed an amicus brief in this case both at the district level and now at the appealate level arguing that this is the exact type of activity allowed under DMCA's exceptions and that SCC is not violating the DMCA. Press release can be found here.
Well said. The EFF doesn't want the government to interfere with how Lexmark does business. They just want the government to STOP interfering with how the cartridge companies do business.
Libertarians and other supporters of free enterprise should be with the EFF and the cartridge companies on this case.
grep -ri 'should work'
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You just revealed the deep, dark secret of the Western Economy
And the Eastern economy does not do this? or at the very least prevent the masses of people from increasing their standard of living?
I agree with what you are saying, but it is hardly a western phenomenon. In fact, I would say it is decidedly an EASTERN phenomenon as controlling social class in an organized fashion really began with the Hindu Caste system in India.
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Don't ever buy a Lexmark full stop.
I used to work for a network install/maintainance firm, and being the youngest had to go out and fix any printer problems.
HPs pulled apart fine, so did Epsons. I can still stip a LJIII in under 3 minutes! Lexmarks however were all, without exception, cheap plasticy lumps of rubbish - fix them and they would break again in 10 minutes, even the business models.
Beep beep.
What Lexmark is creating is a vertical monopoly. The ultimate vertical monopoly for a printer manufacturer would be to sell a printer that only uses their paper, their ink cartridges, and their software. But unless you control the market in which you attempt to do this, you are likely to fail. Apple's efforts show what happens when you try to create a vertical monopoly. Not there's anything wrong with Apple, but their tiny market share has much to do with the fact that they control the hardware, the operating system, and the software (at least to some extent). Only one company can make Apple-type computers, and that's Apple. Only one company can make Lexmark-compatible cartridges, and that's Lexmark. Where is the difference here?
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I wouldn't buy a Lexmark printer, but I wouldn't buy one before this lawsuit either because when I hear the name Lexmark I think of cheaply made crap that'll fall apart in six months. My Panasonic printer is close to ten years old and although I never use it, I know I still could. I can even get new ribbons for the damn thing at Wal-Mart.
How many Lexmark inkjet printers will be around in a decade? How many ink cartridges could you go through in that time?
All inkjet printers seem to have the same problems with the price of brand name cardtridges. That is also why there are so many companies making refillables that can "solve" the issue. The problem is the cost of toner cartridges in laser printers. I know roughly how much they go for, and it is expensive. My company has literally thousands of the Optra T series, and folks, it is a good printer for the money. Even with the expense of toner, it is still just as good or better than pricing on comparable HP printers. The lexmark will run you about $3000 for the decked out Optra T, the comparable HP will be around $10,000. Forget about the disposable printer argument and look at the real picture here. The cartridges from Lexmark are about 1/3 more expensive than the remanufactured ones. However, the quality of remanufactured cartridges is not supposed to be as good as the Lexmark cartridges. I have seen both and it does seem that the Lexmark ones are a little better. The whole point is that if you want to buy a office printer and not a home printer, do your research and try a few different ones before making the selection. Otherwise, buy a cheap on sale printer when you need a refill. speaking of which, I need to find cheap cartridges for my HP G48xi...
root 10956 5164 0 Oct 22 - 0:23 sendmail: rejecting connections: load average: 70 (isn't sendmail just too kind)
Better yet - buy it from Best Buy and get the service plan.
I bought a VAIO from Best Buy, and bought the extended warrantee to go along with it. A year or two later, the keyboard started to die, one key at a time. I got it replaced, after getting proper authorization. I was instructed to pay for the repair, and forward the bill. I did so. That was a more than year ago. Despite repeated phone calls and emails, I'm still trying to collect the payment. I'm out $175.
As far as I can see, they're running a scam. They are selling warrantees and not paying claims. Nice work if you can get it.
My advice: do not buy anything from Best Buy. Take your business to a reputable dealer.
Have you got your LWN subscription yet?
Feudalism occurred thousands of years after the Europeans or Hindus tried a caste system. It was the Spartans who really tried to do it completely in the west.
The concept of class as you are describing it is a capitalist/communist way of looking at it. In a caste system, certain people depending on birth have specific functions in society. In a strict caste system, there aren't really classes, and there is pretty much no mobility as birth has always been the deciding factor.
In the end however, anyone writing about the subject in 500BC described a caste system as an eastern phenomenon. Prior to Sparta, an organized system of leaders, warriors, workers, and slaves simply did not exist in the West.
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