When we say that someone has cracked the DRM on something, usually it means a pirated song, game, book, or movie is about to make its way through the less-than-legal back channels of the internet. But this time, one company is announcing that they’ve cracked the DRM on another company’s coffee tech.
Keurig single-serving coffee machines have probably reduced workplace acrimony more than any other invention since the advent of noise-cancelling headphones. They’re pretty much everywhere these days, and everyone who sells coffee wants in on the game.
Months ago, parent company Green Mountain Coffee announced that in order to keep making large piles of money, their next version of the machine would, basically, be DRM-locked. They claimed that doing so would allow them to bring innovative benefits to Keurig-owning coffee drinkers, but realistically adding the DRM would mostly require anyone who wanted single-serve drinkers to brew their java to pay Keurig for licensing.
One K-cup-making company, Treehouse Foods, filed a lawsuit against Green Mountain Coffee back in March. In the suit, they alleged that Keurig was unfairly monopolizing the market and locking out competitors unfairly.
Treehouse may not be planning to wait out the whole legal process, though. Back in June they said that the DRM tech would be easy to crack, and this month another company appears to have done it.
In a press release, Mother Parkers, a Canadian beverage business, announced that their product would be available on the new generation of Keurig brewers thanks to their “focus on innovation, quality, and freedom of choice” which “has led to new technology.”
As TechDirt points out, that sure sounds a lot like they developed a work-around in house instead of paying Keurig for licensing.
We’ve asked both Treehouse and Mother Parkers to clarify and will update if we hear back.
Keurig’s Coffee DRM Already Cracked By Competitors; Will There Be A Lawsuit? [TechDirt]
by Kate Cox via Consumerist
No comments:
Post a Comment