Digital BW, The Print

Paul Roark wrote:

>>
>>
>>Along those lines, does anyone know where we can get copies of the EU 
>>finding that the chips were an illegal tie?  (I think the EU found 
>>that.)

Keith Krebs added:

>>Here's a start:

>>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/12/30/eu_tells_hp_et_al/

>>http://www.inkjetmall.com/store/info/pdf/ink-pricing.pdf

The EU legislation to which these pages refer is Directive 2002/96/EC
on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), which you can
find here:
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/consleg/pdf/2002/en_2002L0096_do_001.pdf

The relevant text is probably article 4 which reads as follows:

"Member States shall encourage the design and production of electrical
and electronic equipment which take into account and facilitate
dismantling and recovery, in particular the reuse and recycling of
WEEE, their components and materials. In this context, Member States
shall take appropriate measures so that producers do not prevent,
through specific design features or manufacturing processes, WEEE from
being reused, unless such specific design features or manufacturing
processes present overriding advantages, for example, with regard to
the protection of the environment and/or safety requirements."

The Directive is not aimed at protecting the consumer or fair market
operation, but at protecting the environment. Whether this can be
interpreted in such a way so as to prevent the manufacturer from
trying to stop third party inks from entering the market is a
completely different issue.

I will look into EU decisions and case law and report if I find
anything of  interest, although competition law is not exactly my field.

Jorge Castanyer