Colour printers add hidden government codes to all documents


Next time you make a printout from your color laser printer, shine an
LED flashlight beam on it and examine it closely with a magnifying
glass. You might be able to see the small, scattered yellow dots
printer there that could be used to trace the document back to you.

According to experts, several printer companies quietly encode the
serial number and the manufacturing code of their color laser printers
and color copiers on every document those machines produce.
Governments, including the United States, already use the hidden
markings to track counterfeiters.

Peter Crean, a senior research fellow at Xerox, says his company's
laser printers, copiers and multifunction workstations, such as its
WorkCentre Pro series, put the "serial number of each machine coded in
little yellow dots" in every printout. The millimeter-sized dots
appear about every inch on a page, nestled within the printed words
and margins.

"It's a trail back to you, like a license plate," Crean says.

The dots' minuscule size, covering less than one-thousandth of the
page, along with their color combination of yellow on white, makes
them invisible to the naked eye, Crean says. One way to determine if
your color laser is applying this tracking process is to shine a blue
LED light--say, from a keychain laser flashlight--on your page and use
a magnifier.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...pcworld/118664


--

The Insider
http://www.theinsider.org

I am looking over my shoulder for ALL those people who are peeking into my
life.

BALDERDASH!!!!!!


"Alert" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
: Colour printers add hidden government codes to all documents
:
:
: Next time you make a printout from your color laser printer, shine an
: LED flashlight beam on it and examine it closely with a magnifying
: glass. You might be able to see the small, scattered yellow dots
: printer there that could be used to trace the document back to you.
:
: According to experts, several printer companies quietly encode the
: serial number and the manufacturing code of their color laser printers
: and color copiers on every document those machines produce.
: Governments, including the United States, already use the hidden
: markings to track counterfeiters.
:
: Peter Crean, a senior research fellow at Xerox, says his company's
: laser printers, copiers and multifunction workstations, such as its
: WorkCentre Pro series, put the "serial number of each machine coded in
: little yellow dots" in every printout. The millimeter-sized dots
: appear about every inch on a page, nestled within the printed words
: and margins.
:
: "It's a trail back to you, like a license plate," Crean says.
:
: The dots' minuscule size, covering less than one-thousandth of the
: page, along with their color combination of yellow on white, makes
: them invisible to the naked eye, Crean says. One way to determine if
: your color laser is applying this tracking process is to shine a blue
: LED light--say, from a keychain laser flashlight--on your page and use
: a magnifier.
:
:
:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...pcworld/118664
:
:
: --
:
: The Insider
: http://www.theinsider.org

"Traveling" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:u9Iod.168167$hj.38942@fed1read07...
> I am looking over my shoulder for ALL those people who are peeking
into my
> life.
>
> BALDERDASH!!!!!!

Would you please explain why it's balderdash?

Regards,

Hughy

On Wed, 24 Nov 2004 11:54:04 +1100, "Harry Kiri"
<(E-Mail Removed)> found these unused words floating about:

>"Traveling" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:u9Iod.168167$hj.38942@fed1read07...
>> I am looking over my shoulder for ALL those people who are peeking
>into my
>> life.
>>
>> BALDERDASH!!!!!!
>
>Would you please explain why it's balderdash?
>
>Regards,
>
>Hughy
>

Because the 'codes' would be visible if you 'printed' a very small amount of
text!

Time for your jujuman to increase your paranoia pill's strength, eh?

"J. A. Mc." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news(E-Mail Removed)...

> Because the 'codes' would be visible if you 'printed' a very small
amount of
> text!
>
> Time for your jujuman to increase your paranoia pill's strength, eh?

Not really. I simply asked a question, without any suggestion
whatsoever of an insult to you. You then tried to build your own
credibility by suggesting I suffer from paranoia.

I hoped you would be able to add something worthwhile to the thread.
Sadly, I was wrong.

This thread, and others, have some interesting viewpoints, contrary to
your own. Personally, I haven't formed an opinion of whether the
codes exist or not.

If the codes are indeed there, then yes, the codes would be visible,
but they would not be apparent on a cursory viewing due to their
minute size. You would need a magnifying glass to even see them.

"Harry Kiri" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:41a85a89$0$25787$(E-Mail Removed)...

> If the codes are indeed there, then yes, the codes would be visible,
> but they would not be apparent on a cursory viewing due to their
> minute size. You would need a magnifying glass to even see them.

You would also need blue light, or perhaps very strong daylight to see them
since they are reportedly printed in yellow. Small drops of yellow tend to
disappear on white paper. I do not know if the story was true, but if it were
I would be surprised a manufacturer would openly discuss this. For the end
user it hardly seems a selling point :-).

- Bob Headrick

On Sun, 28 Nov 2004 14:03:07 -0800, "Bob Headrick" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>
>"Harry Kiri" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:41a85a89$0$25787$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>> If the codes are indeed there, then yes, the codes would be visible,
>> but they would not be apparent on a cursory viewing due to their
>> minute size. You would need a magnifying glass to even see them.
>
>You would also need blue light, or perhaps very strong daylight to see them
>since they are reportedly printed in yellow. Small drops of yellow tend to
>disappear on white paper. I do not know if the story was true, but if it were
>I would be surprised a manufacturer would openly discuss this. For the end
>user it hardly seems a selling point :-).
>
> - Bob Headrick

The numbers are filed in Area 51.
>