Printer Makers Are Disabling Cheap Ink Cartridges

Printers for the most part aren’t terribly expensive. In fact finding a cheap printer is a pretty easy thing to do, the expensive part would be the ink where buying it officially can cost quite a bit if you’re buying them in bulk, or if you need to replace them often. This is why many people have turned to the use of third-party cartridges that are usually much cheaper.

Unsurprisingly this is something printer makers aren’t too thrilled about, and in more recent times, it seems that companies such as Epson have gone about disabling cheap unofficial cartridges through the form of alleged bogus software security updates that essentially renders these cartridges useless.

This was discovered by the Electronic Frontier Foundation who has since sent a letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton where they call Epson’s practices misleading and deceptive, and how the company seems to lack transparency. “When restricted to Epson’s own cartridges, customers must pay Epson’s higher prices, while losing the added convenience of third party alternatives, such as refillable cartridges and continuous ink supply systems.”

They add, “This artificial restriction of third party ink options also suppresses a competitive ink market and has reportedly caused some manufacturers of refillable cartridges and continuous ink supply systems to exit the market.” Epson has yet to comment on the complaint.

 

Tyler Lee
Categories: Gadgets, General
Tags: Legal, printers