Canon sues restricted ink cartridges

Most people have had their dust off with inkjet printers for home use, products that are often fairly inexpensive. Instead, manufacturers fire up the big hole with ink cartridges—small mandatory additions that come with real and artificial limitations. With the built-in circuits of the cartridges, the printer can, for example, check whether they are original products, but also determine the program path when the ink runs out.

Canon takes it all forward with its multifunction printers, which are described in marketing materials as three or four devices in one, with document and fax scanners being examples of features in addition to printing. The former doesn’t really require any ink to work, but Canon ignores that and puts locks on the entire machine for cases where one or more ink cartridges are out. In a class action lawsuit in the United States, this is now being noted.

Given that printer inks usually expire after two or three years, even if someone rarely or never prints on these all-in-ones, they’ll practically have to keep buying new ink just to use all of the device’s functions.

“There is no reason or technical basis for manufacturing All-in-Ones with an ink level detection function that causes the scanner to stop working when ink is low or empty. Canon designed All-in-Ones in this way to require consumers to conserve ink. in their devices regardless of whether they intend to print,” the complaint continues. Sleeping computer

sleeping computer It takes a closer look at the lawsuit, which claims that the restrictive feature is only there to force users to buy ink cartridges. The site also notes that ink cartridges typically pass their best date before after two years, even with limited use, prompting users to make a forced purchase.

Several US users have contacted Canon regarding the issue of mass action. The company’s response was that MFPs should be fully charged so as not to risk damaging the units. According to the lawsuit, there are Canon printer owners who would not have purchased the products if the feature had been clearly marketed. It remains to be seen whether the class action will continue in the future and whether the users involved will receive any compensation.

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