Epson crushes little man / Technology is evil!

I have a double-whammy for you: one corporatist victory and one liberal whine-fest. First, the bad guys from the right: "Epson wins preliminary ruling against aftermarket cartridge manufacturers."

Epson is one step closer to closing the books on a case against third-party ink cartridge manufacturers that make and sell products to work with Epson printers. The company has won a preliminary ruling saying that 24 aftermarket print cartridge manufacturers do indeed infringe on Epson's patents, and they face orders that would bar them from selling the infringing products in the US.

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In a rather high-profile case, Lexmark battled North Carolina-based Static Control Components (SCC) over the manufacture of printing components meant to lock-out third party providers. In that case, Lexmark had tried to use the DMCA to argue that SCC had infringed on Lexmark's intellectual property, but that approach failed.

Epson's approach has focused on patents and patent law, and so far it has been successful. In the federal court case, Epson accused its competitors of patent infringement primarily based on two patents: 7,008,053 and 7,011,397. Both patents cover minor technical innovations in the production of inkjet printer cartridges, and Epson has since piled on additional patents in an attempt to ensnare all of the companies manufacturing ink replacement products for its most recent printers. We suspect that this isn't the last time we'll see this tactic used, given its success.

Another good argument against the corporatist DMCA and patent laws.

And now a report on the leftist morons: "Blame It On The Garage Door Opener."

A similar study from the Cooper Institute in Dallas found that completing daily tasks without automated assistance (like drive-through car washes) increases monthly energy expenditure by as many as 8,800 additional calories -- the equivalent of 2.5 pounds of body fat. During a 2002 meeting at the Mayo Clinic the study's lead author, Steven N. Blair, said, "I think that inactivity is the major public-health problem of this century. Physical activity has been engineered out of daily life."

Defying the mounting research that fingers sedentary lifestyle as the main cause for obesity, organizations like the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) claim to address childhood obesity by "encourag[ing] food and beverage companies to offer healthier products and change their marketing practices."

But RWJF's notion of "encouragement" includes funding food police groups like the Center for Science in the Public Interest in order to push invasive measures like food bans, fat taxes, and food zoning. And in a press release today the foundation pledged $500 million to continue this ill-conceived fight.

Yea, if we just eliminate all traces of technology from our daily life, we'll starve again. Of course, these stupid fucks think the overhyped pseudo-scientific problem of obesity is more important than the widespread starvation that still exists in the third-world. Fucking liberal shit.