.: Beating Crime with Printers
By:John Sollars
Perhaps it would be naive to think that the 21st century governments would stop at monitoring your every move on the street. Pause for a minute to contemplate what the next level of tracking could include. The answer is laser printers. If you think a document from your colour laser printer doesn't carry your name, think again.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) claims that it has cracked the tracking codes embedded in Xerox Corporation's DocuColor laser printers. Such codes are simply one of the numerous ways manufacturers employ technology to help governments fight currency counterfeiting.
The United States government is allegedly involved with a number of other companies in separate anti-counterfeiting programmes meant to prevent currency from being scanned and printed. The U.S. government, however, is not the only country teaming with the printing industry to fight counterfeiters. A few experts believe that the Dutch government is also using similar anti-counterfeiting methods through Canon’s encoding technology.
Researchers in the U.S. have uncovered patterns of yellow dots arranged in 15 by 8 grids and printed repeatedly over every colour page. The dots, however, are visible only with a magnifying glass or under blue light, which causes the yellow dots to appear black. The code appears as a grid of microscopic yellow dots, each less than a millimeter in diameter. These millimeter-sized dots appear about every inch on a printed page, nestled within the words and margins. By analyzing various test pages printed by supporters worldwide, researchers found that some of the dots correspond to the printers' serial numbers, and other dots refer to the date and time of the printing.
Consider two documents – one carrying the author's name and one meant to be anonymous. By comparing the codes, it can be determined whether the two documents were printed by the same printer, even if Xerox reveals nothing about a customer's serial number. The EFF is now studying printers from other well-known manufacturers with similar tracking codes, but whose keys remain secret.
Unlike inkjet printers, laser printers, copiers, and fax machines fire a laser through a mirror and series of lenses to embed the document or image on a page. Such devices range from a little over £80 to more than £1000, and are designed for both home and office use.
Peter Crean, a senior research fellow at Xerox, says the company pioneered this technology about 20 years ago because several countries had expressed concern about selling the printers in their country. The move aimed at allaying fears that their colour copiers could be easily used to counterfeit bills.
It is believed that since then, many other companies have adopted the practice. According to experts, several printer companies secretly encode the serial number and the manufacturing code of their colour laser printers and colour copiers on every document those machines produce.
Laser-printing technology makes it extremely easy to counterfeit money and documents, and the dots, according to supporters, in use in some printers for decades, allow law enforcement agencies to identify and track down counterfeiters.
However, the same dots could also be employed to track a document back to any person or business that printed it. Although the technology has been present for a long time, printer companies have not been required to notify customers of the feature.
If this practice disturbs you, don't bother trying to disable the encoding mechanism of your printer—you'll probably break it. The coding device is a chip located deep into the machine, near the laser. It embeds the dots when the document is about 20 billionths of a second from printing.
Although nobody has an estimate of how many laser printers, copiers, and multifunction devices track documents, experts believe that the practice is commonplace among major printer companies. The U.S. Secret Service would agree that it finds the printing industry quite helpful to law enforcement.
According to sources, counterfeiting cases are brought to the Secret Service, which checks the documents, determines the brand and serial number of the printer, and contacts the company. Some, like Xerox, have a customer database, which they share with the government.
Many people are apprehensive that the American government’s tracking initiative could lead to a serious breach of privacy. The government has already succeeded in persuading more colour laser printer manufacturers to encode each page with identifying information. Without your knowledge or permission, an act you assume is private could become public. A communication tool you use in everyday life could become a tool for government surveillance. And what's worse, there are no laws to prevent its abuse.
Article keywords: laser printers, Xerox Corporation's DocuColor, laser printers, Electronic Frontier Foundation, EFF, inkjet printers
Article Source: http://www.articles32.com
John Sollars is director of Solar Electronics, which are both ink and PC peripheral suppliers based in Shropshire, UK. To access a comprehensive online shop of original and re-manufactured hp inks please visit www.mega-office.co.uk/acatalog/hp__Hewlett_Packard__inkjet_cartridges.html
.: New Business Articles
1). Learn How You Can Not Make Money From A Home Business Online
There are ways to make money online. But there some steps to know how to do not make money online. See it here.
2). The Starting Point To A Successful Internet Home Business
The beginning steps to developing a successful internet home business.
3). Internet Marketing And Education
What is the necessary education of a new Internet Marketing?
4). Choosing the Most Appropriate Microsoft Training Course
There are a large array of courses available for those who wish to improve their proficiency in Microsoft Office or Windows Training. Whether you are an individual or part of a business the difficulty is often matching your requirements with the most suitable course.
5). Work At Home Institute
What means a work at home institute part time? This article deals about it.
6). Dangers in Contract Negotiations With Non-English Speaking Consumers
Basic of contract negotiation laws with non-English speaking consumers in California.
7). Leading-Edge Wholesale Distributor Tips
Profitable tips to enhance your wholesaling diligence with initial and re-current e-commerce product line
.: Top Business Articles
1). Dealing with Difficult People: 27 Secrets & Strategies You Can Apply Today
Copyright 2006 Colleen Kettenhofen
“No one can get your goat if they don’t know where it’s tied up.” Zig Ziglar
1. Listen more effectively. Listening is the number one tool in communication, especially when dealing with difficult people.
2. Step back and analyze the situation from an outside perspective. When we are less emotionally involved and “cool our jets,” the answers come for how to effectively deal with them.
2). The Grumbling Gut
The Grumbling Gut
3). The Five Fatal Diseases
The Five Fatal Diseases
4). Lose Weight but don't skip breakfast
Lose Weight but don't skip breakfast
5). "Starbucks-China" Blend: A Slam Dunk Grande
Admittedly, there are few genuine “can’t miss” propositions. But I’ve got one for you, Starbucks in China. Giant corporations being granted carte blanche in a totalitarian environment are reminiscent of an age when kings granted exclusive licensing for fur trapping. Starbucks has the product, the relationships, and with some nimble campaigning they’ll have the ubiquitous branding in no time.
6). Contact Lenses or Spectacles?
While plenty of people still wear glasses, there seems little doubt that they’re on the way out. There’s no doubt that putting them in and taking them out can be scary at first, but once you’re used to it they are much more convenient than having bulky glasses on your face, not to mention almost invisible, even to people who get close to your eyes.
Vanity isn’t the only reason to wear contact lenses, though.
7). 64 Testimonials That Say Bioperformance Works
Since its founding, BioPerformance is now the fastest growing Network marketing Company in America and has paid out more commissions in its first 11 weeks than any other company in the same time period in the history of the Network Marketing Industry. Many who are standing at the sideline wondered if the product really works. The Proof Is In The Pudding.