Can cryptography prevent printer-ink piracy?

Found on CNet News on Sunday, 01 July 2007
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Most of these cartridges are made by printer manufacturers and sell for a substantial premium. Some come from unauthorized sources, sell for substantially less and attract the attention of antipiracy lawyers.

Cryptography Research Inc. (CRI), a San Francisco company, is developing chip technology aimed at helping printer manufacturers protect this primary source of profit. The company's chips use cryptography designed to make it harder for printers to use off-brand and counterfeit cartridges.

Skillful hackers can eventually crack almost any code thrown at them and then exploit it for commercial purposes. Once antipiracy encryption is hacked on a product such as high-definition DVDs, for example, it's cracked forever and the discs can be copied and played using the hack.

In terms of making and selling hardware, printers themselves are one of the least profitable sectors. Often the manufacturers are willing to sell their printers at a loss with the goal of making money on sales of ink.

I don't really miss printers; I haven't used my lasers for years now. Inkjets are not even remotely considered, thanks to the price polity and the problems with those cartridges. It's amazing how they try to control the market: the manufacturers could simply say that other cartridges void the warranty, but instead they add tons of extras to make it hard to replace them with other products. In a democratic market, the consumer will decide what to buy. However, some studied point out that those "pirated" replacements are sometimes better than the originals. It's a war out there.