Digital BW, The Print

jorgecastanyer wrote:
> 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

Yes, there's a far too positive view on the other side of the 
pond on the EC resolutions. If the chip design delivers 
advantages in printer use, maintenance etc and the protection 
is not too obvious the main reason then I have to see what 
actually happens when Epson starts the same actions here. 
Epson, Canon etc still sell their chipped carts here. It takes 
an extra step in resetting the Epson chip to make the carts 
usable again after refilling and I have not seen any EC action 
to change that. Canon's chips are not even hacked if I 
understand it correctly.

Another note: both printers and inks are usually more 
expensive here than in the USA. Don't ask me what caused that, 
it can't be the market, we have more people here.

                    --
           Ernst Dinkla


www.pigment-print.com
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