Regionally Encoded Toner Cartridges 'to Serve Customers Better'

sandbagger writes: The latest attempt to create artificial scarcity comes from Xerox, according to the editors at TechDirt, who cite German sources: "Xerox uses region coding on their toner cartridges AND locks the printer to the first type used. So if you use a North America cartridge you can't use the cheaper Eastern Europe cartridges. The printer's display doesn't show this, nor does the hotline know about it. When c't reached out to Xerox, the marketing drone claimed, this was done to serve the customer better..."

Comments

Region Locking

[Elder Entropist]

So if they region lock it so we can't use the (same, but) cheaper cartridges from Eastern Europe and Asia, can we region lock it so they can't use the cheaper workers from Easter Europe and Asia?

Re:Done to _gouge_ the customer better

[lalleglad]

Well, capitalism as such is not the issue here, and the definition is as follows:

An economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development occurs through the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market.

So, a company has three major stakeholders (in no particular order):

1. Owners for which the company should make a profit.
2. Employees that should be taken care of so they can be efficient and make the company successful.
3. Customers that should be take care of so they want to purchase the products or services from the company, so it can be successful.

Xerox in this case seems to not fulfill #3. and for sure I will not purchase their products, or advice anyone else to do so.

Actually, I think it should be unlawful to make a business case where the actual cost isn't reflected in the price, which could be like this region based split or like printer companies selling the printer device cheap and the ink or toner very expensive.

At least the USA, Canada and EU should be able to make such rules as they have some concerns for the users and clout to enforce the rules.

I hope, but I may be dreaming ...

Re:Done to _gouge_ the customer better

[PopeRatzo]

You're not looking at this in the right way. It should be lawful to encrypt cartridges as a way of making more money, and it should be equally lawful for a customer to decrypt them as a way of saving money. THAT is how real capitalism would work.

You fucking idiot. You wouldn't know how "real capitalism" would work if "real capitalism" came to your door and bit you on the ass.

What part of "real capitalism" includes the need to be able to hack a consumer products code to be able to use the product that you bought in the way you see fit? What part of "real capitalism" includes a company being able to embed a trojan in its products that it doesn't tell you about which will force you to buy the most expensive consumables?

Xerox is ripping us off not by region encoding its products, but by using federal power to criminalize whatever consumer forms of post-purchase hacking of its product that consumer may find advantageous.

This is the part that really set me off and prompted me to call you out as an idiot. Where in the motherfucking hell do you find anything about "federal power" preventing you from hacking your Eastern European cartridge? People who bought the expensive single-serve coffee machines were able to circumvent the consumable lock-in with a goddamn piece of tape. Do you believe that's also a violation of some federal statute? Because that is just as much "hacking" the lock-in. And can you please point us to the statute that says a consumer can't alter a consumable like a toner cartridge in order to use one from a different region? Or better yet, adapt a non-Xerox cartridge to your machine?

You goddamn libertarian mouth-breathers are always in a hurry to ascribe every bit of bad corporate behavior as being some sort of government conspiracy to take away your god-given liberty, and no corporation can ever be guilty of bad behavior. You absolutely will not hold any corporation accountable for anything, ever.