Your laser printer will give you away
By Peter Rojas 
posted November 22nd 2004 2:57PM
posted November 22nd 2004 2:57PM
It was big news last month when a couple of researchers at Purdue announced a way to trace documents back to their original printer or photocopier, but it turns out that Xerox and most other laser printer and copier makers have been selling devices that encode serial numbers and manufacturing codes on everything they print out for years. They've been doing it at the behest of the US government, which uses it as a tool to fight counterfeiting, and there's no way to disable or get around it. But if you do want to know whether or not that manifesto or threatening letter you just printed out can be traced back to you, PC World recommends shining a blue LED on the printout and grabbing a magnifying glass.
Mental note:
After I print millions of counterfeit bills, destroy the laser printer so that I can't be traced.
Where does the yellow ink come from on black and white laser printers...
There isn't a big demand for black and white printers among the counterfeiting set.
(In other words, this article is only about color printers.)
If you are going to destroy the printer that doesn't mean you've destroyed the evidence. Unless you steal the printer they can still trace it back to you. If they are smart enough (the FBI usually is) they can still track you even if you stole it.
Don't become a criminal my friend.
"Don't become a criminal my friend."
I think the issue is privacy, not criminality. There's no reason *anything* I print out should have a serial number embedded in it, especially given that I am *not* a criminal. Even if it's just my grocery list, it doesn't matter - it shouldn't be traceable to me.
Solution for now: do not use a color laser printer. Use an inkjet. And if you need high quality b/w printing, buy a cheap b/w laser. Simple. Probably doubtful that solution will hold up forever, though, given how this country's going lately.
Can't you put the paper through a second pass and print your own yellow dot pattern?
Surely this would go some way to masking the original data that is encoded in the yellow dots.
The way I see it, these guys owe me money for ink.
I wonder how this works for shared printers, especially in a printshop or college environment where many people have access to the same printer.
If one doesn't register the product will they still be able to trace you?
Of course they will be able to trace it back to you. Store sale records, credit card records, etc. You leave a pretty long trail everytime you buy something.
Unless of course, you walk into a store, pay in cash wearing surgical gloves and tell the store you will carry the printer out yourself, and lug it home in a friend's borrowed car-- a friend that will swear the car was stolen and later returned to him that day if dragged to Guatanamo.
Worked for Xerox as a digital copier programmer before, never heard of this.
Actually all that's required is
1. Pay Cash
2. Don't fill out the warranty card
I do that with most of the stuff I buy as a simple matter of laziness, now it can also be "a security measure" :)