More evil office products?

In recent days we have been investigating the recent propagation of "value toner cartridges" that claim to be compatible with the more expensive official toner cartridges and yet provide inferior performance at an only slightly-reduced cost.

For those who are not familiar with this trend, it is often referred to as "Compatible toner cartridges" and is becoming more prevalent as Laser printers become more and more common.  We are still researching the history of these knock-off cartridges, making it impossible for us to conclude that they are, indeed, evil, and not just inferior, but there are a few suggestive data points, including:

• An early document filed in court by one of the first "compatible toner" manufacturers referenced Jacob Gehris, the evil inventor of the brad as "an example of a decent man fighting for what he knew to be right".  While we were initially duped by Jacob's methods we have known for several years that he wasn't an innocent victim.  It is possible that the manufacturer hadn't know the full story at the time, but we wonder whether there is more to it.
• A "compatible toner" cartridge found in our office had leads of different lengths, reminding us of the oppressive design of the evil brad.
• The same cartridge was also littered with evil stickers.
• The New Company is increasingly donating to defendants in lawsuits involving harm caused by "compatible toner".  The New Company donates to so many causes, however, that we are not convinced yet that they are willing to back the industry.

We don't want to cause a panic right now, but we think that those considering purchasing "compatible toner" should take their time and consider whether it is truly worth it.  We don't have proof yet, but we intend to either find some soon or spend thousands of man-hours searching for it before we give up!