Ryan Sullivan cancelled what he thought was a "random charge for $4.99 per month from HP called 'Instant Ink'". Then his printer refused to print:
It turns out that HP requires its customers to enroll HP Instant Ink eligible printers into one of the Instant Ink plans, and continue paying a monthly subscription in order to be allowed to use the device.
But where's the need to come up with different plans coming from, you may wonder? HP explains: the company charges a fee based on the number of pages a customer prints each month, and the page count is shockingly monitored remotely.
Naturally, the scheme is not advertised as a rather unusual application of DRM, but a way for customers to save time and money. Still, it would seem HP has not exactly gone out of its way to explain all the consequences to those customers.
HP's terms of service also say that these eligible, internet-connected printers can be remotely modified in several ways, including by applying patches, updates, and "changes" – without notifying customers.
Another thing HP can see thanks to the Instant Ink program is the type of documents you print, identifying them by extension as Word, etc., documents, PDFs, or JPEG and other types of images.
Additionally, the HP cartridges have been locked to specific printers for quite a while now.
Earlier on SN:
US Customers Kick Up Class-Action Stink Over Epson's Kyboshing of Third-Party Ink (2019)
Xerox Is No More (2018)
Meg Whitman Resigns (2017)
Supreme Court Lets Consumers Refill Ink Cartridges (2017)
HP to Issue "Optional Firmware Update" Allowing 3rd-Party Ink (2016)
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday January 21 2020, @05:54PM (2 children)
Who would have dreamed such a thing of the HP of old.
How about HP charges your based on the number of calculations you do on your calculator?
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Tuesday January 21 2020, @07:26PM (1 child)
> "Who would have dreamed such a thing of the HP of old."
You're referring to the pre-MBA days, when techs did tech. I guess someone dreamed of it.
> "How about HP charges your based on the number of calculations you do on your calculator?"
Shhhh!! Don't give them ideas! Maybe quick patent that.
To be fair, it is an age-old concept- give away the razor and sell the blades. And printer companies have been doing this for years, with ink advertising often embedded in the printer software and even the Windows drivers.
However, they've crossed into the "you don't own your software, you lease it" territory. Okay, you own the physical printer, but you lease the right to use the software that runs it.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Tuesday January 21 2020, @07:30PM
Adding, it would be awesome if someone made alternate free software/firmware for the printer. I'm sure it would violate some HP TOS / license / whatever, but I'd argue "right to repair".