Printing on the cheap is safe

I’ve been watching the Lexmark vs Static Control Components (SCC) pretty closely and it looks like Lexmark won’t be using the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) to keep us from getting less expensive printer cartridges anytime soon. A little background- Lexmark tried using the DMCA to keep a company from making cartridges that would work with Lexmark printers. They did this by stating there were copyrights on the programs used on the printer and toner cartridge and if you made your own, you’re violating an anti-circumvention law. The reason this alarmed me is I think we’re going to see lots of manufacturers do this with cell phone and laptop batteries in addition to any “replaceable” accessory like power cords. The markup on these items are so high, some companies would love to only have us use their own “protected” versions. I tend to make my own chargers for any device I can, not being able to, or not being able to buy a less expensive alternative would be a drag. So- although this seems to be over, keep an eye out. Speaking of…next week I should have an “interesting” charger posted up, just waiting on the last part to ship.