HP sued (again) for blocking third-party ink from printers, accused of monopoly::Suit seeks injunction blocking HP from bricking printers using third-party ink.
Perhaps they’ll be fined 1/4 day’s profits and carry on like nothing happened ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Bingo. The fines for these behemoths are pathetic. “I know what will work, let’s shake them down for their lunch money!”
What could work is to impose a daily progressing fine until the firmware change Is reversed and 3rd party ink Is allowed again.
printing all that paper in order to sue them probably ended up costing more than their fine
Imagine if you bought Ford and could only fill it up at Ford endorsed gas stations.
Delete this before a Ford Exec reads this.
Don’t worry, they’d have to geoblock the tank lid, and they don’t know where your car is. Oh, wait…
I’m vomiting at the idea because while it sounds silly, I have to remember kuerig convinced everyone that coffee pods were a better alternative then tried to lock it down so only official kuerig pods worked.
Is there a place to check and compare printers in respect to this?
I’m currently looking for a printer replacement and don’t want to lock myself to printers like these. I know to stay away from HP as it looks like they are the biggest offender. I know that brother generally was good, but I’m not sure if that still holds true.
What a great article 😄
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I bought one years ago that still functions on $15 high yield toner that lasts us a year.
Recently bought one for work for $199 (has an ADF) since the HPs stopped printing at all. It was the type that have the long ink cartridges for like $70. Had an employee that needed to print something quick from his phone for work and he couldn’t believe how easy and quick it printed compared to the HP. I think his quote was, “damn, that was awesome.”
Brother is the only printer that just works anymore.
Yeah, The Verge apparently is fed up with printers
Except for the Brother printer everyone has.
Which is fine
This is the way.
I have a Epson Eco tank printer that you just fill the tanks. There is no way for them to prevent you from using any ink you want.
Can HP go fucking bancrupt already?
Get a Brother laser printer and never look back
Just to add to this… I rarely print anything, but my wife (an elementary school teacher) prints all kinds of stuff! We picked up an eco tank printer from Epson. We’ve had it now for a coupe years and it’s been fantastic! We would replace ink cartridges a few times a year previously… Where as with the eco tank we do about once a year. The print quality has held up, and it’s just been a good little work horse for her!
Monopoly 🙄
What a stupid fucking way to go after HP.
If they cannot be trusted to compete fairly in the market, they should not compete in the market. Dissolve them, nationalize them, I don’t care. We can’t afford this bad behavior any more.
A lot of things get hacked or tweaked. People make CNC machines out of random motors. I wish someone makes an open source paper printer.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
HP has used its “Dynamic Security” firmware updates to “create a monopoly” of replacement printer ink cartridges, a lawsuit filed against the company on January 5 claims.
Additionally, the lawsuit highlights the fact that the use of non-HP ink cartridges doesn’t break HP’s printer warranty.
Last month, HP CFO Marie Myers praised the company’s movement from transactional models to forcing customers into continuous buys through offerings like Instant Ink, HP’s monthly ink subscription program.
The new lawsuit claims that HP’s firmware updates forced customers to buy HP-brand ink that costs more than competitors.
When reached for comment, Peggy Wedgworth, a senior partner at the Milberg law firm and one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs in this case, told Ars Technica:
The lawsuit accuses HP of raising prices on its ink “in the same time period” that it issued its late 2022 and early 2023 firmware updates, which "create[d] a monopoly in the aftermarket for replacement cartridges, permitting [HP] to raise prices without fear of being undercut by competitors.
The original article contains 642 words, the summary contains 169 words. Saved 74%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
HP is a failed capitalistic experiment.
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I was able to install old firmware on an HP printer and circumvent the ink lockout. It’s highly dependant on when your particular printer was made, but it is an option. Just make sure you also turn off all the auto update options.
