From the Sounds-So-Fake-It’s-Actually-True File:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation says it has cracked the infamous yellow-dot color printer code contained on Xerox color printers, which displays an “invisible bar code of sorts that contains the serial number of the printer as well as the date and time a document was printed.”
Last year PC World published that printouts from many color laser printers contain the dots, scattered across the page, which are viewable only with a special kind of flashlight. The story quoted a senior researcher at Xerox as saying “the dots contain information useful to law-enforcement authorities, a secret digital ‘license tag’ for tracking down criminals.”
Now the EFF says it’s cracked that code and is working on doing the same with other major printer lines.
With the toothpaste out of the tube, the Secret Service downplayed the discovery: “It’s strictly a countermeasure to prevent illegal activity specific to counterfeiting,” agency spokesman Eric Zahren said. “It’s to protect our currency and to protect people’s hard-earned money.”
Where did I put my tin hat again?
Via Washington Post
