[112608] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Re: DRM for batteries
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Peter Gutmann)
Mon Jan 7 10:01:40 2008
From: pgut001@cs.auckland.ac.nz (Peter Gutmann)
To: izaac@setec.org
Cc: cryptography@metzdowd.com
In-Reply-To: <20080105163415.GB15552@bishop.setec.org>
Date: Mon, 07 Jan 2008 19:07:37 +1300
Izaac <izaac@setec.org> writes:
>The calculus here has little to do with unit profit margins. It has
>everything to do with mitigating product liability suits, recalls, and bad
>press. (You won't read a report of "Chiwonkistan Knock-off Battery Destroys
>WidgetCo Laptop". You'll read the report "WidgetCo Laptop Catches Fire.")
The device is also sold for use in other high-profit-margin items like laser
printer toner cartridges and ink tanks. While I can certainly see the point
of your argument as applied to batteries, I haven't heard of too many toner
cartridges exploding recently, and given the extensive bad press given to
dubious tactics like "starter cartridges" I don't think the printer
manufacturers are that worried about publicity issues (the printer ink/toner
market is definitely a racket, and has been documented in some detail
elsewhere).
Peter.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The Cryptography Mailing List
Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to majordomo@metzdowd.com
