I've heard of the technique but don't know how widespread it is.
Actually, I think this was introduced as an anti-forgery measure, rather
than something more McCarthyite.

The description I read said the dots were a pale pastel, e.g. a pale
lemon colour, which implies that the technique only works with a colour
printer. Its easy to defeat: use a monochrome printer.

There are lots of additional benefits if you ditch an inkjet in favour
of a monochrome laser, particularly if you buy an LJ5:
- monochrome lasers are *much* cheaper to run than inkjets.
- LJ5s are built like brick outhouses and run forever.
- Used ones are easy to find and cheap.
- If you're lucky you'll even find one with a network card in it.
- cartridges are easy to find, both new and on eBay.
- HP laserjets from at least the LJ2 to the latest all speak PCL.
- each model added a superset to PCL, so you can send LJ2 PCL to
  a current model. It will work fine, but not print the latest
  fancy twiddles.
- HP LJ printers are widespread, so you'll already have a suitable
  driver if you're running Linux or any Windows later than 3.11.

I replaced an Epson Stylus, which used to use a couple of sets of tiny,
expensive cartridges a year, with a used plane jane LJ5 a couple of
years ago. The cartridge that was in it has shown no sign at all of
getting low in the two years I've had the machine. The only downside is
that Multimap maps are not so clear in b&w, but that's a small price to pay.

On Fri, 09 Nov 2007 11:33:28 +0000, RedGrittyBrick
<RedGrittyBrick@SpamWeary.foo> wrote, quoted or indirectly quoted
someone who said :

It may be old news, but it is perhaps more germane now with so many
repressive regimes in the world cracking down on pro-democracy
movements.

Further, you may be the only one here who caught it first time around,
and you apparently sat on the information.

My printer is not on the list, but I consider what Canon did a major
break of faith.  They had no business introducing such a feature
without informing the customers. I wrote them telling them they are
now on my lifetime boycott list.

...

Well that was a lot more polite than "piss off, ya' loony!".

High points for Jevon T. TSR,  from the CIC of Canon Canada (Inc.)!

Oh, and in regard to RGB  'sitting on' the information, that
is simply ludicrous.
1) It was widely discussed at the time.  (I can recall hearing
about it - and I do not go looking for that kind of information.)
2) ..in the presss, and on the relevant groups.
3) ..of which, this is not.
4) According to GG profiles, RedGrittyBrick started
posting in May 2005 - I do not know when they began
posting on comp.lang.java.* groups exactly (my vague
impression is 4-6 months) but the first two months of
postings were to completely non java groups.  So it
might be surmised that by the time RGB began posting
*here*, the 2004/2005 inclusion of the dots was 'old news'.

Now, please use a monochrome printer* and stop bugging
us about it.

* Or 'save the trees' and do without those damnable devices.