Digital BW, The Print

> Hi Tim,
>
> But...even at that, putting it in Adobe is moot.  BTW, older scanners are
> easily available...and the documentation of the command sets for scanners
> are readily available (and certainly easily reverse engineered via a SCSI
> bus analyzer)...and even at that, developing a scanner isn't
> really a *big*
> deal, when you're talking minting millions of dollars, so unless
> it's built
> into the linear sensor, which is obviously silly, all there preventing is
> you and I from printing our own money, which I doubt is a
> significant source
> of counterfeiting...but hey, if it makes them feel more secure
> (kind of like
> locking your screen door ;-), who am I to question it.
>
> Regards,
>
> Austin

I know - the only people I can see this discouraging and possibly stopping
(and even that is doubtful) are the teenage and Mom and Pop counterfeiters -
kids doing at school or home, people who think - hey this Epson prints
pretty well, I could make a few dollars. And although you often see news
reports about them, I very much doubt this is a serious percentage of the
fake moolah out there.

Meanwhile, it inconveniences legit users of course. I posted on another list
how a Photo Editor friend discovered this "feature" recently, before all the
hoopla.

There were counterfeit notes in their community so they did a story on it.
With the  local PD and the Secret Service, they got a bunch of the
counterfeit notes and had the cops do a compare and contrast - this is what
to look for etc.

Well, when they tried to open the images their photog had taken, half
wouldn't open - even one where the note was fairly small being held by a
cop. So, they wasted time trying to figure out what was wrong - digital
camera malfunction? corrupted image file? photoshop problem? Fiddling around
going WTF. They finally figured out basically what it was then had to find a
work around (which was easier - PS7). So, here is an entirely legitimate
use, actually working with law enforcement and the Secret Service, and this
hidden "feature" cost them time, money and frustration. Way to go Adobe.

tim