
HP Apologizes for Bricking Third-Party Cartridges, Will Restore Functionality - defenestration
http://hothardware.com/news/hp-apologizes-for-sabotaging-third-party-ink-cartridges
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rspeer
This article promised a "sincere apology", but what followed instead was

> We updated a cartridge authentication procedure in select models of HP
> office inkjet printers to ensure the best consumer experience and protect
> them from counterfeit and third-party ink cartridges [...]

That's insincere as hell. It all paraphrases to "We did this for your own good
and we're sorry you got upset".

~~~
Mithaldu
Even worse, as the article points out: This is a one-time thing. They'll do it
again in the future, only that time with a warning in the EULA or something
like that.

~~~
heroprotagonist
Yeah, that's how I read their "apology", too:

> _We should have done a better job of communicating about the authentication
> procedure to customers, and we apologize._

Note that the apology was for not properly disclosing what they were doing,
rather than for what they were doing.

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bambax
I was recently in the market for a label printer. Dymo is the leader on this
kind of products and as I was about to buy one I read this review

[https://www.amazon.com/review/R2VG8JOAJDWJ0E/ref=cm_cr_dp_ti...](https://www.amazon.com/review/R2VG8JOAJDWJ0E/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B0027JIIKQ&channel=detail-
glance&nodeID=1064954&store=office-products)

as well as many like it, that explain how the printer will only accept
original, overpriced Dymo labels.

I bought a Brother QL-700 instead, with ordinary labels that cost 1/5 of the
price of the Dymo ones, and couldn't be happier.

Let's hope those practices hurt the businesses instead of helping their bottom
line, that's the only way we will get rid of them.

~~~
TeMPOraL
Interesting, good to know.

We've bought a handheld Dymo LabelManager 280 for our Hackerspace. We've tried
third-party labels, but we'll be back to official ones. Not because the third-
party ones aren't supported - they very much are! It's because they turned out
to be shitty; the quality of print is quite bad. Not a showstopper, but you
don't spend money on a label printer to have shitty-looking labels everywhere.

~~~
GrinningFool
To my paranoid side that raises an interesting question. They have the ability
to know when approved labels are used in the device. They could just reject
them, creating all kinds of bad publicity. Or they could degrade output
quality on "unapproved" mediums then say earnestly, "This lack of quality is
why we recommend using only Genuine Dynamo Labels®. Buy some today!"

~~~
yrro
You know, I'd be fine with the printer detecting the use of 3rd party ink
cartridges and signalling this fact to the computer, so that a warning C n be
displayed, as long as the printer and driver don't use that information to
deliberately degrade the output.

And I'm not necessarily against using that information to void the warranty
too.

~~~
jhayward
> And I'm not necessarily against using that information to void the warranty
> too.

In the US a manufacturer can't use a simple indicator like "you broke the
seal" or "that's not an Original Manufacturer cartridge" to void a warranty. A
warranty may only be voided if the specific act involved was the actual
proximal cause of the failure of the product.

Anyone who tries to use "that voids the warranty" is usually just trying to
invoke FUD with no legal standing.

~~~
theaustinseven
I've never heard this, could you provide some sort of evidence of this? I was
always under the impression that warranties were purely manufacturer defined
and could be voided for any reason the manufacturer stated up front.

~~~
jhayward
The Magnussen-Moss Warranty Act [1] lays out many requirements and terms of
reference for warranties in the US. One specific requirement:

"Warrantors cannot require that only branded parts be used with the product in
order to retain the warranty.[7] This is commonly referred to as the "tie-in
sales" provisions,[8] and is frequently mentioned in the context of third-
party computer parts, such as memory and hard drives." [Wikipedia]

Edit: Additionally, the onus is on the manufacturer to prove that a non-OEM
part or service was the proximal cause of a warrantied failure. They don't get
to put it back on you without proving their case.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson%E2%80%93Moss_Warranty...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson%E2%80%93Moss_Warranty_Act)

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yomly
If I squint my eyes (or brain) really hard I can just about believe that zero
day exploits _could_ exist for a printer cartridge.

But then I just arrive at the conclusion that if you didn't add DRM and try to
make cartridges "smart" there wouldn't even be a security vector...

~~~
TeMPOraL
That can be said about a lot of things now. Coffee makers, anyone?

DRM is mostly a tool to support shitty business models, and _above that_ , it
tends to introduce new attack vectors.

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amiga-workbench
Spend a bit more and get yourself a Brother monochrome laser printer, you
won't have to deal with it squirting half of its ink down the drain every time
it needs to unclog.

~~~
robinduckett
I've got a Samsung monochrome laser printer, best purchase ever.

~~~
kogepathic
Good you have one now, HP just agreed to purchase Samsung's printer division.
[1]

I can't see this ending in a better customer experience for future Samsung
printer models.

It's a shame. I've had several Samsung CLP series laser printers and they've
all worked amazingly well for many years.

[1]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12478699](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12478699)

------
blakesterz
"When ink cartridges are cloned or counterfeited, the customer is exposed to
quality and potential security risks, compromising the printing experience."
[1]

I know there's security risks in the printer and in any other thing plugged
into a network, but what's the security risk in a cartridge? A cartridge can
be hacked and then...? Can a cartridge really be owned? What can possibly be
done then?

[1] [http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-news/blog/Small-Business-
Printin...](http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-news/blog/Small-Business-
Printing/best-possible-printing-experience.html)

~~~
kabdib
If you can hack an HP printer by installing a cartridge from a third party,
then HP has even more embarrassing security problems to apologize for.

~~~
Declanomous
I would love to meet the person who owns a printer using a hacked ink
cartridge.

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ChrisNorstrom
Why bother, just go with the new Epson Eco-Tank printer ET-3600 and you get
the ink tanks on the side, basically a continuous ink system. You can buy a
gallon off non-epson ink (like Nano Digital brand ink) and literally print
color for fractions of a penny per page. Cartridges seem so outdated.

~~~
yitchelle
Just looked this up as I have not heard of it before.

"Cartridge-free printing — comes with up to 2 years of ink in the box" \- I
really like this bit.

Any idea how this works from a dollars & cents perspective?

~~~
pricechild
They're filling radio adverts here in the UK about them, claiming "new tanks
cost as little as £6".

If replacements won't be needed for 2 years I figure most people will expect
it to have broken and been taken off the market by then...

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sandworm101
Don't care. HP is on my no-buy list until they promise to not do this again.
Ever. I don't own an HP printer today and I probably now won't for a while.
DRM stunts like this, the surprise bricking of working hardware, are not
forgiven overnight.

~~~
jasonkostempski
Apologies and promises are worthless. If they move to free software and
firmware, I might consider them again. No trust required.

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gushie
My first inkjet printer was a HP Deskjet 500. It was fantastic (for its day
and my requirements), robust and seemingly lasted forever. I eventually
upgraded to something that did colour, but no printer I've had since, HP or
otherwise has ever been as reliable as that old printer.

It is sad that I'm now in a position where I won't buy another HP printer
while the cloud of them restricting my ink choices lingers.

~~~
Mithaldu
Just give up on ink. Laser printers are much better in every regard, and are
only bought less because they can't be pushed out the door for less than a
restaurant bill.

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ChoHag
This headline lacks the words "getting" and "caught".

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ourmandave
I thought I'd had the inkjet game beat when I saw Epson color printers at
Walmart for < $50.

Since it cost $50+ for new color and black cartridges I figured I'd just buy a
new printer every time the old one ran out.

Sadly new printers come with super small cartridges.

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corbet
So now will they stop bricking "Genuine HP" cartridges every time I look away
from the printer for a few days?

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ensiferum
This is normal. I'd expect the sales of ink cartridges to be a bigger business
than the sale of printers itself.

~~~
dspillett
_> I'd expect ..._

Yes, that has been the case for many years.

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raverbashing
Yes, I want a better user experience. That's why I'm not buying any more HP
Inkjets

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vasanthagneshk
Good luck the customers will be very happy with your apology. /s

