Printer manufacturer Brother, once the last bastion of hope for people who don't have spare Krugerrands lying around to buy printer ink, has quietly joined the dark side of proprietary ink enforcement. Through forced firmware updates, the company is now blocking third-party cartridges and removing older firmware versions that allowed them to work.
Famous repair advocate Louis Rossmann revealed Brother's heel turn in a recent video, expressing chagrin since he long recommended their printers as a solution for people fed up with HP and Canon's cartridge restrictions. "Brother is among the rest of them now," Rossmann says.
The company's new strategy involves two particularly devious tactics. First, firmware updates are quietly pushing out changes that render previously compatible third-party cartridges unusable. Second, Brother has scrubbed older firmware versions from their support sites, preventing users from rolling back to more permissive software. For color printer owners, the updates even disable color calibration features when using non-Brother cartridges.
The shift marks the end of an era for budget printing. Brother had carved out a reputation as the consumer-friendly choice by allowing third-party ink — a position that saved users significant money compared to name-brand cartridges that can cost more per ounce than vintage champagne.
Rossmann advice for current Brother printer owners? Keep your device offline and reject all firmware updates – before Brother's software sends your third-party cartridges to the great recycling bin in the sky.
[Via Tom's Hardware]
Previously:
• I use a cheap WiFi laser printer with cheaper 3rd party toner cartridges
• Angry printer-cartridge description: the backstory
