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xyzzyyzzyx writes:

The case, Lexmark_Int'l_v._Static_Control_Components, brought before the U.S. Supreme Court has been handed down as a loss for DMCA encryption and hopefully a further loss for proprietary printer cartridge litigation itself.

Read through the terse unanimous judgement here.

Any day Lexmark loses due to its monopolistic practices is a good one to me.

[Editor's Comment]:

IANAL. The wikipedia link provides a very good summary of the case, but essentially it revolves around Lexmark producing ink cartridges which contain measures intended to ensure that only their cartridges work in their printers. Static Control Components managed to produce cartridges which defeated the Lexmark protection, and Lexmark initiated legal action against them. Having been through, as I understand it, the full range of legal options - and having had previous decisions overturned - the final outcome is that Static Control Components is judged to have not committed an offence under the DMCA and it also shows that in the court's view, preventing the use of alternative ink cartridges is not a thing that is in the customer's best interests and is therefore frowned upon . However, if anyone with a better understanding of the US legal system or who is able to decipher all the implications of the judgement wishes to correct my assessment then I would welcome their input to the debate.