Third Party Graders (TPGs) and Altered/Trimmed Cards - Food for Thought

Dragnet

When speaking of how or what TPGs can do to "stay ahead of the curve" and protect themselves against future incidents of undetected trimming/altering, I am surprised that few, if anybody (at least to my knowledge) have discussed the possibility of working with the actual card manufacturers, i.e. Topps and Panini on future releases. IMO, if there is ever to be a "magic bullet" it would have to come in this form. Everyone talks about the damage done to the TPGs as a result of this scandal, but far fewer are talking about the damage (or potential damage) to the industry as a whole, much of which rests with the card manufacturers. The incentive exists on both sides here....

As for specifics -- in the case of trimming, the obvious solution would be to ensure that manufacturers are printing all cards at a specified size, however if this is unrealistic, then perhaps a watermark could be printed on all 4 edges? Just a thought, but I'm sure many here could come up with much better ideas/solutions....