HP is preventing more customers from using third-party ink with their printers. Numerous reports distributed by Reddit, Twitterand the HP Community forum suggests that a recent printer firmware update is blocking the use of non-HP ink as part of the company’s strict “dynamic security” policy, as first reported by Ars Technica.
First introduced in 2016, dynamic security it’s part of HP’s cartridge authentication process, which the company says should “protect the quality of our customers’ experience, maintain the integrity of our printing systems, and protect our intellectual property.” This means banning the use of ink or toner cartridges that do not contain “new or reused HP chips or electronic circuitry” in some printers, something HP has already done. faced criticism and various class action lawsuits over.
Despite this, it appears that HP is expanding its dynamic security policy to more devices that were once compatible with non-HP cartridges. A Reddit user, u/grhhull says they can no longer use third party ink cartridges with their HP printer. Instead of displaying an unavoidable message that HP cannot guarantee the quality of your print, u/grhhull says that your printer will not use any third-party cartridges.
“The indicated cartridges have been blocked by the printer firmware because they contain a non-HP chip,” reads the message displayed on the printer’s screen by u/grhhull. “This printer is designed to work only with new or reused cartridges that have a new or reused HP chip.” According to u/grhhull, an HP customer support specialist told them that this is part of a “recent update.”
In 2020, HP reached a $1.5 million settlement with clients in the US as part of a class action lawsuit that claimed that the company’s firmware acted as “malware” by “adding, deleting, or altering code, diminishing the capabilities of HP printers, and causing HP printer supply cartridges to competition were incompatible with HP printers. The company also paid out millions to customers. affected by the dynamism of security in the European Union and Australia after banning users from installing more affordable third-party ink cartridges.
As a small concession to customer complaints, HP issued an optional upgrade in 2016 that removes dynamic security, but the change, confusingly, applies only to a set of specific models, some of which HP requires to be made before December 1, 2016. While it is still unclear which HP printers have Dynamic Security installed, online postings indicate that the issue has spread to multiple models, including the Office Jet Pro 6970, Office Jet Pro 6968, Office Jet 6950and Office Jet 7740.
This tracks with recent firmware updates released on December 2022 and January 2023 which note the inclusion of “dynamic security measures, which are used to lock cartridges that use a non-HP chip or non-HP or modified electronic circuitry.” They also state that “regular firmware updates will maintain the effectiveness of dynamic security measures and block previously working cartridges.” the edge contacted HP with a request for more information, and we will update this article if we hear back.
As HP print net revenue declines, this move seems like a desperate attempt to lock users into their ecosystem. My DeskJet 4100 gives me enough trouble, and now that it’s latest firmware update indicates that I might stop accepting third party ink at any time, I am seriously considering switching to another brand of printer if I don’t have the option of using third party ink in the future.
