Numerous reports circulating on HP's Twitter, Reddit, and community forums indicate that the company is preventing more customers from using third-party inks in its printers.
According to Ars Technica, a recent printer firmware update could have prevented non-HP ink from being used under the company's strict "Dynamic Security" policy.
The company first introduced the "Dynamic Security" policy in 2016 as part of the company's ink cartridge certification process, which HP says is "designed to protect the quality of customer experience, maintain the integrity of our printing systems, and protect our intellectual property."
This means that ink or toner cartridges that do not contain "new or reused HP chips or electronic circuits" are prohibited from being used in certain printers, prompting criticism and several class-action lawsuits against HP.
However, it appears that HP has expanded its dynamic safety policy to include more devices that are compatible with non-US companies' cartridges. One Reddit user said that they can no longer use third-party ink cartridges with their HP printer.
Instead of showing a bypass message that the company cannot guarantee print quality, users say that the printer will never use third-party ink cartridges.
A user posted a picture of an HP printer showing the following message: “The ink cartridges specified by the printer firmware are disabled because they contain a non-HP chip. This printer will only work with new ink cartridges that contain a new or reused HP chip or remanufactured ink cartridges Using it. Quoting a customer service professional, the user said it was part of a “recent update.”
In 2020, HP settled a $1.5 million class action lawsuit with customers in the United States alleging that the company's firmware acted as "malware" by "adding or removing code or removing or altering and affecting functionality from HP printers". Show HP) and competing ink cartridges as not compatible with (HP) printers.
The company also paid millions of dollars to customers affected by Dynamic Security in the European Union and Australia after it blocked users from installing affordable third-party ink cartridges.
As a small concession to customer complaints, the company released an optional update that removed Dynamic Security in 2016, but this confusing change only applies to a select few models, and HP requires you to install the update before December 1st.
Although it is not clear which HP printers have Dynamic Security installed, online posts indicate that the problem has spread to a number of models such as:OfficeJet Pro 6970, OfficeJet Pro 6968, OfficeJet 6950, OfficeJet 7740.
This follows the latest firmware updates, released in December 2022 and January 2023, that "include dynamic security measures to prevent cartridges from using modified or non-HP chipsets or chipsets." (HP).
Considering the company's meager net revenue from printing, the move seems like a desperate attempt to force users to only use its products.