This just in... Static Control Corp (SCC) has essentially won its appeal against Lexmark. Lexmark was attempting to use the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) to claim that Static was overriding its “digital locks” which prevented printer users from using printer ink cartridges from other manufacturers.

One court had issues an injunction against SCC, but the appeals court dropped the injunction, finding that it is not clear that Lexmark will win its case. If you read the appeals court ruling, you'll see that 2 of the 3 judges came out pretty strongly against what Lexmark was claiming and the 3rd judge agreed but for different reasons...

As the kids say, w00t!

You'll recall a few days ago I was complaining about this printer ink cartridge scam:

And what about this anti-competitive technology? Inkjet cartridges these days have little computer chips, and the printers have little chip readers. The cartridge keeps track of ink levels, and is hard-coded to go down, never up. The printer will stop working when it thinks the ink is too low - even if there is still ink left in the container. And try using a no-name or third-party ink cartridge, and your printer will not work at all.

He he... I'm feeling a little better. The law does (sometimes) step in and protect the little guy from being bullied by the big guys. Sometimes.

Update: Oooooh. SCC is counter-suing Lexmark under the Antitrust law. You know, the price of ink jet printers may rise by a few dollars after this, but the cost of ink jet cartridges will fall drastically.