His claims are quickly debunked in the article, as the true reason is, obviously, protecting their IP and subscription model
“ See ink cartridges can be vectors for viruses because they have chips in them.”
“Why does a container of ink have chips in it?”
“To make sure you don’t use third party ink cartridges”
HP is the virus.
Case closed.
The virus thing is bullshit, but inkjet cartridges usually have chips in them because the print head requires a digital controller. They aren’t generally just a container of ink.
Now, using the need for a controller to add anti-consumer lockouts? That’s what we call malware.
Didn’t they remove the chips from inkjet cartridges during the chip shortage during the pandemic?
By far most ink cartridges come without heads. The heads are mounted in the printer itself. Even if the head is on the cartridge the controller can still be in the printer.
So basically they’re protecting you from something that’s only possible, because of something they shouldn’t have done.
every once in a while they’ll just tell you how stupid they think you are. don’t ever forget it.
This has real “Home Taping is Killing Music” vibes.
But god damn do these corporate vultures really think that we owe them something.
No, this is a financial transaction. I am buying a product from you, and once I have paid you, I owe you nothing more. Endless attempts to make your business model endlessly extractive from your customer base just shows you have shitty business management skills and don’t know how to grow your business outside of nickel-and-diming people to death.
Shivaun Albright, HP’s chief technologist of print security, said at the time:
“A researcher found a vulnerability over the serial interface between the cartridge and the printer. Essentially, they found a buffer overflow. That’s where you have got an interface that you may not have tested or validated well enough, and the hacker was able to overflow into memory beyond the bounds of that particular buffer. And that gives them the ability to inject code into the device.”
Albright added that the malware “remained on the printer in memory” after the cartridge was removed.
So HP had a vulnerability in their printer’s firmware that allowed arbitrary cartridge code to become executable, and they’re trying to spin this so it doesn’t sound like their printers are at fault. Still sounds like a them problem.
The mad rush to sell the sizzle, not the steak.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have one company create a simple printer that just prints. It does not have a local webpage. It does not monitor your ink supplies. It does not phone home. It uses ink from bottles sold inexpensivly.
Would be less hassle to just fucking 3d print a page
The last point does exist, those printers are just more expensive because they are no loss leaders and no ink sales are expected.
Lol - this week in “When Clueless Leaders Try and Talk Tech”
I guess it is HP think it is OK to brick your printer due to HP updates but using competing cartridges is just so dangerous. Typical.
I never heard what happened to those bricked printers.
The owners are trying to form a class action suit against HP: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/01/hp-sued-again-for-blocking-third-party-ink-from-printers-accused-of-monopoly/
Well, I doubt they plan to ever buy HP again.
The CEO of HP, Enrique Lores, has explicitly said that the company is aiming to turn printing into a service model.
“Our long-term objective is to make printing a subscription," Lores said. “This is really what we have been driving.”
Fuck this noise.
https://news.yahoo.com/hp-ceo-says-goal-printing-223058918.html
Using HP ink reduces the chances of getting sick by 0.001%
I still have a black spot on my lung from a rogue ink cartridge. That’s why HP wants to put theirs on prescription.
🤖 I’m a bot that provides automatic summaries for articles:
Click here to see the summary
Last Thursday, HP CEO Enrique Lores addressed the company’s controversial practice of bricking printers when users load them with third-party ink.
That frightening scenario could help explain why HP, which was hit this month with another lawsuit over its Dynamic Security system, insists on deploying it to printers.
HP has issued firmware updates that block printers with such ink cartridges from printing, leading to the above lawsuit (PDF), which is seeking class-action certification.
Still, because chips used in third-party ink cartridges are reprogrammable (their “code can be modified via a resetting tool right in the field,” according to Actionable Intelligence), they’re less secure, the company says.
Further, there’s a sense from cybersecurity professionals that Ars spoke with that even if such a threat exists, it would take a high level of resources and skills, which are usually reserved for targeting high-profile victims.
Realistically, the vast majority of individual consumers and businesses shouldn’t have serious concerns about ink cartridges being used to hack their machines.
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