Rival may have roasted Keurig’s coffee-pod DRM

Back in March, Keurig announced plans to lock down its popular coffee pod system in an effort to
make third-party pod makers pay for a license. But the company’s plans
may be foiled. A press release last
week from Mother Parkers Tea & Coffee suggests that the Keurig
“DRM” used to lock out third parties has been cracked and that Mother
Parkers is now making coffee pods that can work in Keurig’s brewing
machines.

New Keurig machines reportedly require pods to have a special “ink marker” on their foil top, according to The Verge. If that marking isn’t detected, the machine will display an “Oops!” message and refuse to do anything further.

The Mother Parkers press release states that the company “will launch
a new version of the RealCup capsule that is compatible with Keurig
Green Mountain’s K2.0 brewer scheduled for launch later this year.” The
release quotes Bill VandenBygaart, Mother Parkers’ vice president of
business development, as saying that the company’s “new technology”
means that “consumers will be the ultimate winners by having the best
tasting coffees and teas available.”

It’s not completely clear whether Mother Parkers’ pods are an
outright attack on Keurig’s system or part of a licensing partnership,
though no Keurig execs are quoted in the release (as might be expected
if a license had been secured) and Mother Parkers talks up its own
“innovation” and “technology.” Mother Parkers did not respond to
requests for comment.