Dymo Causes a Stir by Adding DRM to Printer Paper
An Anonymous Coward writes:
Dymo causes a stir by adding DRM to printer paper:
[...] But some people do need a printer, and it seems that label printer maker Dymo is giving us yet another reason to hate printers.
It's building DRM directly into the printer paper. Or in this case, rolls of labels.
Yes, that's right, according to author, journalistc, and activist Cory Doctorow writing for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Dymo is putting RFID readers into its latest label printers, and using those to prevent owners from putting third-party labels through their printers.
"The new label rolls come with a booby-trap," writes Doctorow, "a RFID-equipped microcontroller that authenticates with your label-maker to attest that you bought Dymo's premium-priced labels and not a competitor's. The chip counts down the labels as you print them (so you can't transplant it to a generic label roll)."
This goes back to the original question that gets asked a lot around here, who owns the products that you buy?
Also, as the video points out, it's possible that the anti-circumvention law of the DMCA may possibly make it illegal for you to circumvent these restrictions(?). As the video points out, these corporations are huge on free market capitalism but only when it suits them. When it doesn't they're suddenly in favor of more government restrictions.
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