Last week, we told you about a nasty ploy by Hewlett Packard to disable non-HP ink cartridges in certain inkjet printers. They did this by placing a time bomb of sorts in a routine firmware update last March, set to do its dirty work six months later.
Reaction to HP’s clever scheme was quick. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) sent an open letter to HP’s CEO calling on the company to:
Apologize to your customers, and restore the original functionality of their printers with a firmware update that rolls back the self-destruct sequence; Publicly commit that you will never again use your software update process to distribute anti-features that work against your customers’ interests; Publicly commit that the effects of any software updates will be fully disclosed; Prominently disclose any capability or plan to remove features from devices in your sales literature, so customers know what they’re getting before they buy; Promise to never invoke Section 1201 of the DMCA against security researchers or competitors who make legitimate aftermarket products.
A day later, an Alabama consumer with one of the affected OfficeJet printers that suddenly stopped printing filed a class action lawsuit in federal court against HP claiming this was an anti-competitive move by the printing giant.
Then, a day after that, HP’s CEO apologized (sort of) to affected users:
We should have done a better job of communicating about the authentication procedure to customers, and we apologize.
You’ll note he didn’t apologize for disabling competing ink cartridges, but rather just for doing it secretly.
In any event, HP promises a new firmware update in a couple of weeks to reverse the problem they created and allow third party cartridges to once again work in the affected printers.
“HP promises… [to] allow third party cartridges to once again work in the affected printers.” For now. They’ll try again.
Additionally HP sells used printers as being new. I purchased an HP printer that didn’t work from day one. I duly completed the customer registration card on the same day it was purchased. After two days of trying to get it to work I finally contacted customer support (located in India). I provided the model and serial number and was surprised to learn the “warranty had expired”. How could a new HP printer out of the box have an expired warranty? Though I forwarded the warranty confirmation that I received from HP I got no where with this guy whose English I could barely understand. I tried contacting HP here in the U.S. and got nowhere. Fortunately I purchased the HP printer from a reputable local store who refunded my money. In summary HP sells returned and used products as being new which further documents HP being nothing more than an unscrupulous company. I will never purchase another HP product.
Imagine if your car did a software update which would only allow you to put gas in it from certain stations, or oil from certain brands.
HP execs probably had that apology queued before they even implemented the firmware. They will try again later, hoping not to get caught the next time.
HP should also pay damages (maybe free ink cartridges) to those affected. If I got an error, first thing I would do is replace the perfectly good cartridge.
For years, I’ve used Brother printers… zero issues with 3rd party ink and toner, and they last forever.
How come they are only sorry when they are caught? HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM??
My Canon printer announced it could no longer monitor ink usage when I first started to use refilled cartridges. But eventually it accepted them and things went back to normal. I guess Canon backed-off and provided an update to allow use of refilled cartridges. They are Canon’s cartridges that I’m using, I just get them refilled at Costco.
PAPA JOE asks the question, “How come they are only sorry when they are caught?”
Well you may ask.
In truth the only reason why they apologize is because they have been caught & that fact has been publicized, possibly to the detriment of the Company concerned.
That same problem exist if you happen to have purchased an HP cartridge on Ebay or elsewhere that is an HP “Instant Ink” product. The HP “Instant Ink” program delivers instant ink but the cartridges are not for sale or resale. So, if you end up with extra cartridges that you will never use too bad. The printer will tell you that it is not a genuine HP cartridge which is a boldface lie because it is precisely a genuine HP cartridge.
always used remanufactured cartridges in my HP printer until 3 replacements did not work. We ended up donating a 1 year old printer and purchased a new HP printer. Now we come to find it is HP’s decision in order to make more money on ink which is way over priced now. They should be ashamed of themselves.