Can printing from a website be limited?

[gbarkovi at sfu.ca]

I am new to this list so please forgive me if this has been covered before.

We are wondering if, for copyright or other reasons, printing from a website can be technically limited or restricted? I presume that whatever can be displayed on somebody's pc can at least be printed by screen capture programs. Although I have had patrons ask why certain sites are not printing out. I have presumed that it is often because of the color layout - usually a dark/black background. Whether this is intended to restrict printing or not, I am not sure.

Does anyone have anything to share about this?

Thanks in advance,

Greg Barkovich
Burnaby Public Library
British Columbia, Canada