Yes, your color printer is spying on you

Steve wrote:

"ian lincoln" wrote:
So don't go using your equipment for counterfeiting operations.

Or for printing political leaflets if you live in China or Saudi
Arabia or Zimbabwe, etc etc etc.

Or for whistleblowing on any employer who might have a blue light.

"Steve, can you explain why the letter with the details of how my secretary
and I used pension fund money to vacation in Aruba without my wife have the
same dot patterns as every spreadsheet you've printed in the last 2 years?"



--
Hand crafted on October 20, 2005 at 05:44:19 -0400

Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
-Groucho Marx

ER wrote:

FROM NOW ON!

DO NOT REGISTER YOUR PRINTER WITH THE MANUFACTURER!!

High end Xerox copiers/printers are more or less "pre registered". You can't
just walk into Wal*Mart and buy one, you have to deal with a Xerox rep. And
you'll probably have some sort of service agreement. Cost per page is
through the roof without one.

With most high end equipment of this type it's just "that way".

--
Hand crafted on October 20, 2005 at 05:50:20 -0400

Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
-Groucho Marx

Impmon wrote:

FROM NOW ON!

DO NOT REGISTER YOUR PRINTER WITH THE MANUFACTURER!!

Better solution: used printer or copy machines from anonymous source
like thrift shop, yard sales, etc where new buyer can't be tracked at
all. Not eBay or online places since the seller would have buyer's
address.

You're probably not going to find a lot of this caliber used equipment for
sale. Distributors go to great lengths to remove older equipment from the
street. Especially if it's a competetor's equipment by the way.

Even if you do, you're more likely than not going to have to deal with
*someone* for your supplies. We're not talking "civilian" printers here,
where you can order toner online or walk into Joe's Printer Emporium and
buy anonymously.

--
Hand crafted on October 20, 2005 at 06:03:19 -0400

Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
-Groucho Marx

"Shaun Eli" wrote in message
ups.com...
Of course this is also a way to ensure that you eventually have to buy
another yellow ink cartridge, even if all your printing is in black.


Actually, I was thinking if you are doing something illegal with the
printer, make sure it runs out of yellow ink first. -Dave

"ER" wrote in message
...
FROM NOW ON!

DO NOT REGISTER YOUR PRINTER WITH THE MANUFACTURER!!

ER


How will that help when the serial number is on each page printed? Yeah, it
might slow down the authorities tracking you, but when they find you, they'd
still have proof that YOUR printer was involved. -Dave

On Wed, 19 Oct 2005 20:27:38 -0400, Impmon wrote:

Better solution: used printer or copy machines from anonymous source
like thrift shop,....
Let the original owner sweat while you make millions out of
counterfeit $20 bills.

Millions? Ok, one million would be 50.000 twenty dollar bills, and
if 'millions' means at leat two, then it would mean printing at least
100.000 twenty dollar bills. That would cost a fortune in yellow
ink!

Geo

On Thu, 20 Oct 2005 09:49:47 GMT, "Jeffrey F. Bloss"
wrote:

Or for whistleblowing on any employer who might have a blue light.

I guess those printers would be banned from Kmart because it'd get
discovered.
--
When you hear the toilet flush, and hear the words "uh oh", it's already
too late. - by anonymous Mother in Austin, TX
To reply, replace digi.mon with phreaker.net

All printers have charisteristic quirks which can be used in court
cases. Its similar to the days when metal fonts on each typewriter
was slightly different in shape and angle.
Xerox's identifiers justs makes it easier.

"Jeffrey F. Bloss" wrote:
So don't go using your equipment for counterfeiting operations.

Or for printing political leaflets if you live in China or Saudi
Arabia or Zimbabwe, etc etc etc.

Or for whistleblowing on any employer who might have a blue light.
"Steve, can you explain why the letter with the details of how my secretary
and I used pension fund money to vacation in Aruba without my wife have the
same dot patterns as every spreadsheet you've printed in the last 2 years?"

Yes, but first I need to consult with Tom DeLay, my ethics advisor.
I'll get back to you.



************************************************** *********************

Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

....P.J. O'Rourke

The serial number and the date.

Art

Rod Speed wrote:

No it isnt, at most its recording what printer
a particular document was created on.

SSW wrote:

EFF reveals codes in Xerox printers

NEW YORK (AP) -- Just because a document from a color laser printer
doesn't carry your name doesn't mean no one can trace it back to you,
privacy advocates warn.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation says it has cracked the tracking
codes embedded in Xerox Corp.'s DocuColor color laser printers. Such
codes are just one way that manufacturers employ technology to help
governments fight currency counterfeiting.

"Underground democracy movements ... will always need the anonymity of
simple paper documents, but this technology makes it easier for
governments to find dissenters," said Lee Tien, EFF senior staff
attorney. "Even worse, it shows how the government and private
industry make backroom deals to weaken our privacy by compromising
everyday equipment like printers."

Researchers found patterns of yellow dots arranged in 15 by 8 grids
and printed repeatedly over every color page, said Seth Schoen, a
staff technologist at the San Francisco-based civil-liberties group.

The dots are visible only with a magnifying glass or under blue light,
which causes the yellow dots to appear black.

By analyzing test pages printed out by supporters worldwide and by
staffers at various FedEx Kinko's locations, researchers found that
some of the dots correspond to the printers' serial numbers. Other
dots refer to the date and time of the printing.

Xerox spokesman Bill McKee would not provide details about the
technology. He said the company "does not routinely share any
information about its customers," though it does respond to requests
from law enforcement...

The EFF is now studying other printers from well-known manufacturers
with similar tracking codes...

Adobe Systems Inc. has acknowledged quietly adding the government
software to its Photoshop software at the request of regulators and
international bankers.

But David Skidmore, a spokesman at the Federal Reserve Board, said
that the technology, known as the Counterfeit Deterrence System, was
aimed mostly at personal computers and ink-jet printers - not the
high-end machines like DocuColor.

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See pic at http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000663063763/