The Recycler Issue 317

AROUND THE INDUSTRY
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GLOBAL HP, Instant Ink, Firmware
HP faces criticism over Instant
Ink and firmware
The OEM has been placed under the critical microscope of late, both over its
Instant Ink service and its firmware updates, which are still causing
consumers problems with their printers.
The Recycler has been made aware of
continuing issues caused by HP’s printer
firmware updates, which block the use of
third-party cartridges, and asks whether
more education or information is required
from the company on this controversial
subject.
HP’s firmware is a topic of debate that
stretches back to September 2016 and
beyond, when an update which blocked the
use of remanufactured and refilled
cartridges in various HP printer models
triggered outrage from consumers.
Bombarded by complaints, the OEM
told The Recycler, “HP is constantly
improving security for its products and
customers. Beginning in late 2015, HP
implemented updates to the security chip
in HP OfficeJet, OfficeJet Pro and OfficeJet
Pro X printers that maintains secure
communications between the cartridge
and the printer.
“The purpose of this update is to protect
HP’s innovations and intellectual property.
These printers will continue to work with
refilled or remanufactured cartridges with
an Original HP security chip. Other
cartridges may not function. In many
cases this functionality was installed in the
HP printer and in some cases it has been
implemented as part of an update to the
printer’s firmware.”
The problems with the use of third-party
cartridges caused by the update prompted
comments from ETIRA, with the
remanufacturing association stating it was
“assessing the impact” of the update.
Fast forward more than two years, and
the firmware fracas is still rumbling on in
the background, with HP Australia finding
itself in trouble in 2018 when 220,000 of
its printers failed to work with aftermarket
cartridges.
Most recently, just this week, The
Recycler has been informed that
consumers are still receiving error
messages on certain printer models, such
as the HP Officejet Pro 8630. This is one
of the printers involved in a recent class
action lawsuit that has been brought
against the OEM through the United
States District Court for the Northern
District of California, in which HP has
agreed to pay compensation to consumers
whose printers failed when they tried to
use non-HP replacement ink cartridges.
With legal issues and consumer
complaints continuing to arise around the
issue of firmware, The Recycler questions
whether there is more HP could do, on its
part, to educate and inform buyers about
firmware and what it means for them as
consumers.
The OEM has also been handed some
gentle criticism regarding its Instant Ink
service in a new article penned by Josh
Hendrickson for How To Geek, which
reveals the “other price of admission”
consumers may not be aware of when they
sign up for HP’s Instant Ink service.
As Hendrickson explains, he opted to
sign up for Instant Ink in order to combat
the “recurring issue” he was facing of
being “always out of printer ink” and
having to fork out for expensive new
cartridges.
He bought a new inkjet printer that was
enrolled in HP’s subscription program,
saying, “For a low cost, I would always
have all the ink I needed—as long as I kept
to a page limit, that is.”
However, a few years down the line,
Hendrickson says he realised “there was
one other price of admission”; namely, that
the ink sent by HP belongs to the
company, not to him, and if he cancelled
the subscription at the end of the billing
cycle they required the ink to be sent back.
On the plus side, Hendrickson describes
Instant Ink as being “very easy to set up”
and explains that “If you don’t use all your
allotted pages in the month, the extra
pages roll-over and you can use them
next month.”
However, the “kicker”, as he puts it,
comes during the cancellation of the
service, because “as soon as your billing
cycle ends the printer will not accept the
ink anymore and you’re required to send it
back to HP”, although the company does
cover the cost of postage and packing.
An HP support agent explained to
Hendrickson when he contacted them that
“HP ships specially marked ink as part of
this process, and your printer recognises
that it is intended for Instant Ink
subscribers only.” This is “essentially
DRM”, states Hendrickson, designed so it
“locks down” the ink in your printer.
Posing the question of whether or not
Instant Ink is “a good deal”, the article
declares that “it depends” on the number
of pages you will need to print on a
regular basis.
However, Hendrickson concludes that,
for him personally, “I want my printer to
be mine and controlled by me. All I have to
do is convince myself that freedom is
worth the cost of all new ink.”
28 THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 317 • APRIL 2019