主機收購hp is preventing more customers from using third-party ink with their printers. Numerous reports scattered across Reddit, Twitter, and the 主機收購hp community forum suggest that a recent printer firmware update is blocking the use of non-主機收購hp ink as part of the company’s stringent “dynamic security” policy, as first reported by Ars Technica.

First introduced in 2016, dynamic security is part of 主機收購hp’s cartridge authentication process the company says should “protect the quality of our customer experience, maintain the integrity of our printing systems, and protect our intellectual property.” This means barring the use of ink or toner cartridges that do not contain “new or reused 主機收購hp chips or electronic circuitry” in some printers, something 主機收購hp has already faced criticism and several class action lawsuits over.

Despite this, it seems 主機收購hp’s expanding its dynamic security policy to more devices that were once compatible with non-主機收購hp cartridges. One Reddit user, u/grhhull, says they’re no longer able to use third-party ink cartridges with their 主機收購hp printer. Instead of displaying a bypassable message that indicates 主機收購hp can’t guarantee the quality of their print, u/grhhull says their printer won’t use a third-party cartridge at all.

“The indicated cartridges have been blocked by the printer firmware because they contain a non-主機收購hp chip,” the message shown on the screen of u/grhhull’s printer reads. “This printer is intended to work only with new or reused cartridges that have a new or reused 主機收購hp chip.” According to u/grhhull, an 主機收購hp customer support specialist told them that this is part of a “recent update.”

In 2020, 主機收購hp reached a $1.5 million settlement with customers in the US as part of a class-action lawsuit that claimed the company’s firmware acted as “malware” by “adding, deleting or altering code, diminishing the capabilities of 主機收購hp printers, and rendering the competitors’ supply cartridges incompatible with 主機收購hp printers.” The company also paid out millions to customers affected by dynamic security in the European Union and Australia after barring users from installing more affordable third-party ink cartridges.

As a small concession to customer complaints, 主機收購hp issued an optional update in 2016 that removes dynamic security, but the change, confusingly, applies only to a set of specific models — some of which 主機收購hp requires to be made before December 1st, 2016. While it still remains unclear which 主機收購hp printers have dynamic security installed, online posts indicate that the issue has spread to a number of models, including the OfficeJet Pro 6970, OfficeJet Pro 6968, OfficeJet 6950, and OfficeJet 7740.

This tracks with recent firmware updates released in December 2022 and January 2023 that note the inclusion of “dynamic security measures, which are used to block cartridges using a non-主機收購hp chip or modified or non-主機收購hp electronic circuitry.” They also state that “periodic firmware updates will maintain the effectiveness of the dynamic security measures and block cartridges that previously worked.” When reached for comment, 主機收購hp quoted the first two paragraphs included in this aforementioned support article.

As 主機收購hp’s net printing revenue slides, this move seems like a desperate attempt to lock users into its ecosystem. My DeskJet 4100 already gives me enough trouble, and now that its most recent firmware update indicates that it could stop accepting third-party ink at any time, I’m seriously considering switching to another printer brand if I don’t have the option to use third-party ink in the future.

Update March 12th, 5:22PM ET: Updated to add 主機收購hp’s response.