Can you say "de-commoditization"? I knew you could.

Slashdot: "Looks like the printer cartridge manufacturers will be borrowing techniques from Hollywood. HP introduced region coding for some of the newest printers sold in Europe."

Libertarians out there: Truly open markets are important to free-market captalism, right? What does it say when companies have the ability to redefine markets through forced differentiation of functionally identical products? A printer cartridge is no longer a printer cartridge; it's a "European cartridge" or an "American cartride," two separate markets, by fiat of the manufacturer.

And on the same subject, what of printer manufacturers that go to great length to prevent their cartridges from being refilled or remanufactured, and prevent compatible cartridges from being manufactured? These companies are not spending money, as capitalism says they should, to improve their position in the market; instead they are spending it to great lengths attempting to _redefine_ the market in order to make it less open, so they aren't forced to compete.

Any comments, anyone?