12mo ago

HP sued (again) for blocking third-party ink from printers, accused of monopoly

arstechnica.com 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.

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.

Technology @beehaw.org

HP sued (again) for blocking third-party ink from printers, accused of monopoly

arstechnica.com /gadgets/2024/01/hp-sued-again-for-blocking-third-party-ink-from-printers-accused-of-monopoly/

208 26

51 comments

Perhaps they'll be fined 1/4 day's profits and carry on like nothing happened ¯(ツ)/¯
- 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...
- Tesla did that essentially with their proprietary charging. Then they essentially strongarmed other companies into adopting their standard.
  
  Only in the us afaik. In the eu this didnt fly. We use menekes type 2 and ccs2, including all teslas.
  
  I was under the impression that their standard was objectively better than alternatives, so that was a net positive?
  
  I hate to side with ElMo, but didn't that happen because they kick started the EV car wave? And apparently their solution was also the better option, or something to that effect.
- 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.

HP is a dead company. Like a zombie that doesn't know it's state. Die already!
- HP's consumer division certainly is. Their computers are buttgarbage and their printers are outright scams at this point. My understanding though is they make shit like MRI machines....yeah the company is a zombie.
  
  That's probably HPE. The companies split a while back
  
  According to a 90s article I linked deeper in this thread, the medical arm split off from the company in 1999.
- I wonder what the people who work there are like
  
  I get what you're saying, but the majority of them are probably fine humans just trying to make a living

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.
- Brother
  
  What a great article 😄
  
  This is the way.
  
  Thank you this looks great, but I also want to be able to scan and copy documents on flatbed as sometimes they are connected or can't go into the feeder for other reasons.
- 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.
  
  Yeah those CISS style ones are awesome, really glad Epson embraced it after years of customers using 3rd party CISS.
  If I were to get an inkjet again (I have a bw brother laser MFC), it'd definitely be a ciss.

Can HP go fucking bancrupt already?

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.
- No one would buy it. That's the reality.
  Their are two customers for printers businesses that need high reliability and high volume. They will pay more for this, if it's cost effective in the long term. An open source solution wouldn't be much cheaper, a business supplying servicing and repairs are still needed. The other are consumers that want something that appears cheap and are too ignorant to asses long term cost. They are served by budget printers sold for a loss. That loss is made up for in by selling them ink that is exorbitantly marked up.
  An open source solution cant be sold for a loss, if the carriages are also open source. Only people ideologically in favour of open source solutions and those that do the maths to estimate long term value of printers.
  Brother laser printers are good value per print. But they cost much more for less features.

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.

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.

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.

51 comments