Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Editor P.O.V.

> >Your proposed legislation is typical of the socialists who make 
> >policy in the EU - trying to tell companies how to run their 
> >businesses and design their products. 
> >
> No-one is telling them how to run their business, their
> only saying they can't sell it here if theydesign in methods
> to prohibit recycling. 

Same thing.   It's a case of the government dictating something 
which SHOULD be set by the free market - product design.

If your goal was TRULY to not fill up landfills then all you have to 
do is ban the disposal of these in landfills, or charge for trash 
collection by the pound.  Many communities already charge by the 
pound for trash collection.  (BTW, for 3 years I was the CHAIRMAN of 
my town government's solid-waste committee, so I know a little bit 
about this topic).   But your real goal is . . . 

> No, it's actually likely to ALLOW and encourage competition by 
> increasing the actual market for 3rd party supplies.. Just as has 
> happened in laser printers and copiers.

I.e., to use government power to interfere with and manipulate the 
free market.   But whether there are chipped cartridges, whether 
there are third-party ink providers, etc, is a decision that should 
be made by consumers, NOT the state.


> Oh yeah, don't go implying I'm a socialist... I'm actually a VERY 
> fiscally conservative Republican.  ;-)

You sound like a left-leaning Democrat, to me.


> BTW Peter, use 3rd party inks?  But like the market as is?  
> Bit of a hypocrite if that's so, aren't you? (It's ok for some
> to reap the 
> benefits of a market in which the real costs are borne by the vast 
> majority buying overpriced cartridges, right?)

I always prefer the market as it is if the alternative is one 
manipulated by the government.    Lots of people complain about 
Microsoft's dominance of desktop PC's and want the government to "do 
something" about that, too.   I used to use products by Borland and 
Netscape, and Lotus, and in each case I switched to Micrososoft, not 
because Microsoft twisted my arm, but because they offered me a 
better product than Borland, Netscape, and Lotus.    God knows what 
we would end up with if the government were picking software 
development enveironments, email clients and web browsers!