It's no secret that printer manufacturers such as HP, Canon, Lexmark, and the rest of the crowd sell their printers for little to no profit in order to attract initial buyers. The real profit comes from the sales of ink cartridges that can, sometimes, be sold for 50% of the cost of the entire printer itself.
In recent years, however, "ink piracy" has become a thorn in the side of printer manufacturers as they lose almost $3 billion a year to illegal ink cartridges (refilled cartridges sold as new, reverse engineered cartridges, and printers modified to accept any cartridge). In an effort to fight back, Cryptography Research Inc, (CRI) has stepped in with a chip that would require the user to use only manufacturer sanctioned ink cartridges in their printers.
Of course, any kind of digital protection is going to be attacked by the thousands of highly skilled hackers out there. To help combat this issue, the chip, called CryptoFirewall, will generate an individual code for each and every ink cartridge meaning would be hackers would have to crack each new cartridge manufactured. CRI admits that it's system won't completely eradicate ink piracy, but that the "system is designed to recover from failure".
News source: CNET
In recent years, however, "ink piracy" has become a thorn in the side of printer manufacturers as they lose almost $3 billion a year to illegal ink cartridges (refilled cartridges sold as new, reverse engineered cartridges, and printers modified to accept any cartridge). In an effort to fight back, Cryptography Research Inc, (CRI) has stepped in with a chip that would require the user to use only manufacturer sanctioned ink cartridges in their printers.
Of course, any kind of digital protection is going to be attacked by the thousands of highly skilled hackers out there. To help combat this issue, the chip, called CryptoFirewall, will generate an individual code for each and every ink cartridge meaning would be hackers would have to crack each new cartridge manufactured. CRI admits that it's system won't completely eradicate ink piracy, but that the "system is designed to recover from failure".
News source: CNET
I mean, what's next: Paper that you can only use with certain brands of ink? Gas that can only be uses in certain models of cars? Water that it's illegal for you to drink unless you're drinking it out of a particular brand of non-refillable bottles?.
+1 ,
can you imagine the outcry if say BP , Shell or Esso started to give away cheap cars and sell overly-priced fuel
oh wait they already sell overly-priced fuel here in the UK , just not the cheap cars
Before any one starts , yes yes I realise that our government heavily tax the fuel in the UK , I was just trying to make a point , pfft
I've done the same thing before. Lets see, spend $25 for a black cartridge + $30 or more for a color cartridge, or spend $50 for a new printer that includes both.
I've done the same thing before. Lets see, spend $25 for a black cartridge + $30 or more for a color cartridge, or spend $50 for a new printer that includes both.
I think you'll find that printers do not come bundled with standard ink cartridges, but testers, that have only a little ink in them so customers have to buy more.
If they did this and then they went down quick (so say they are really 50% full and so the rate the cartridge dropped was twice what it would if the cartridge was full and a new seperately bought one... if anything they would be shooting themselves - as would you go replace a cartridge that ran out really fast?
For anyone who doesnt know... search for CIS systems for your printer - on my setup i get better results than genuine epson cartridges and it works out I pay about £1 a cartridge (where as normally for my printer they cost £9-£10 and my printer has 8 ink cartridges in it!
For normal use I use Lexmark printers. $35 for a printer compared to $60 or more for the ink. The new printer always wins.
I've done the same thing before. Lets see, spend $25 for a black cartridge + $30 or more for a color cartridge, or spend $50 for a new printer that includes both.
I think you'll find that printers do not come bundled with standard ink cartridges, but testers, that have only a little ink in them so customers have to buy more.
actually, the printers i was buying before i just stopped with it, came with 1 full black, 1 full color, and then 3 color refill bottles, good to make 2 more color cartridges. it was only like 55 for it.
Their business model works akin to a drug dealer selling an addiction. And they want people to blindly follow it?
Balls to that - I just buy new printers!
You buy a car, but now you have to buy specific tires that the manufacturer makes.
You buy a flashlight, but the batteries have to be bought from the manufacturer and be made by them (or a licensee.)
I'm sure if they could put these chips on paper, we'd have to buy that from them too. Load of ^&~!@*#.
Mine has a little (1.5"?) lcd on it! talk about a multifunction printer >.>
Buy one 'starter' pack for a reasonable price, maybe $8 for the arm and two blades (i have gotten some free in the mail also), then spend another $8-10 on 3-5 blades each time...and there arent really any generic alternatives to buy new blades for your current razor....
'give them the razer, sell them the blades'
The manufacture of the printer has no decision in my choice who or where I purchase ink cartridges from.
Why hasn't the government done something about this BS? I would gladly pay a higher price for the printer if it meant not having to pay a fortune for ink cartridges; especially when they are not even half full like Epson sells, and programmed to report themselves as being "out of ink" long before they really are. If anything is illegal it should be what these companies are doing. How can you pirate ink anyway? STUPID.
I was thinking of buying a PC game today (Call of Duty), but I had to start asking myself "Will it be hindered with DRM?"
If I want a new video card, it will cost more to support HDCP for videos I have no intention of watching (I didn't buy a DVD drive until 2005, and even then only to store data)
I refuse to buy a new printer until someone shows me one as cheap to feed as my 1996-model LaserJet 5.
Commenting has either been disabled on this article or you are not logged in. Click here to login or register, its free!
Note: Anonymous commenting is disabled in order to keep the quality of responses to a high standard.