While consumers often complain about the costs of gasoline, they have even more reason to complain when it comes to refilling their inkjet printers. With some inkjet printer inks costing nearly $88 USD per ounce, it’s a good thing automobiles don’t run on ink cartridges! With printer prices at all-time lows, consumers are both puzzled and infuriated at the high prices they must pay to keep their printers running. With millions of dollars spent annually on replacement ink cartridges, the ink cartridge replacement market is no laughing matter. In fact, some printer manufacturers claim that 80 percent or more of their profits come from consumable supplies, with ink cartridges being of the primary sellers. The ridiculous cost of ink has forced many consumers to look to viable alternatives. Companies like Canon, Epson, Hewlett-Packard, and Lexmark claim that alternative inks are inferior, but this hardly stops consumers from trying them nonetheless. It doesn’t stop these top brand-name companies from suing the alternative ink supplies either. If alternative ink sources were, in fact, inferior, why do their manufacturers have to be sued? Why do companies like Lexmark try to suppress the aftermarket manufacturers by installing microchips in their cartridges to prevent their printers from recognizing third-party alternative cartridges? Lexmark even goes as far as preventing their ink cartridges from being refilled by anyone other than Lexmark itself. The fact of the matter is that the ink cartridge industry runs pretty much the same way mobile phone networks and razor blade manufacturers do--give away the initial product at dirt-cheap prices but charge up the yazoo to keep them going. Sure you can get the latest iPhone for twenty bucks, but that’s hardly a bargain if you’re locked into a hundred-dollar-a-month phone plan for 24 months! The same goes with razors. That new three dollar, quadruple-blade razor might give you the greatest shave in the galaxy for the first month, but it will cost you dearly the next time you try to buy replacement blades. The true value of your HP PSC ink sales are no different. These tactics have caused authorities in Europe and North America to take a second look at the practice, to see if there are better ways to protect consumers’ rights by allowing them to purchase cheaper third-party alternatives in a fair manner.