> Next time you make a printout from your color laser printer, > shine an LED flashlight beam on it and examine it closely > with a magnifying glass. You might be able to see the small, > scattered yellow dots printed there that could be used to > trace the document back to you.
So they're using my yellow toner and expecting me to be happy about it? Is it tax deductable? ;) > Lorelei Pagano, a counterfeiting specialist with the U.S. > Secret Service, stresses that the government uses the > embedded serial numbers only when alerted to a forgery. "The > only time any information is gained from these documents is > purely in [the case of] a criminal act," she says. This is like the semi-recent OnStar issue, right? > John Morris, a lawyer for The Center for Democracy and > Technology , says, "That type of assurance doesn't really > assure me at all, unless there's some type of statute." He > adds, "At a bare minimum, there needs to be a notice to > consumers." Absolutely. A "you're being tracked, have a good day" would be nice. > Crean describes the device as a chip located "way in the > machine, right near the laser" that embeds the dots when the > document "is about 20 billionths of a second" from printing. > > "Standard mischief won't get you around it," Crean adds. I have to wonder how long it will take modding sites to pick this up. > Neither Crean nor Pagano has an estimate of how many laser > printers, copiers, and multifunction devices track > documents, but they say that the practice is commonplace > among major printer companies. This sounds a lot like "But everyone does it!" That never worked for me. > Unlike ink jet printers, laser printers, fax machines, and > copiers fire a laser through a mirror and series of lenses > to embed the document or image on a page. Such devices range > from a little over $100 to more than $1000, and are designed > for both home and office. Black-only laser printers are down as low as $100. Color is still $500+, just clearifying. > Crean says Xerox pioneered this technology about 20 years > ago, to assuage fears that their color copiers could easily > be used to counterfeit bills. It can be done with inkjet printers now. Anyhow, my $0.02. I probably won't be buying a new (or old) color laser printer in the near future. Chris -- Chris Umphress <http://daga.dyndns.org/> _______________________________________________ Full-Disclosure - We believe in it. Charter: http://lists.netsys.com/full-disclosure-charter.html
