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HP is preventing more customers from using third-party ink with their printers. Numerous reports scattered across Reddit<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and the HP community<\/a> forum suggest that a recent printer firmware update is blocking the use of non-HP ink as part of the company\u2019s stringent \u201cdynamic security\u201d policy, as first reported by Ars Technica<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n First introduced in 2016, dynamic security<\/a> is part of HP\u2019s cartridge authentication process the company says should \u201cprotect the quality of our customer experience, maintain the integrity of our printing systems, and protect our intellectual property.\u201d This means barring the use of ink or toner cartridges that do not contain \u201cnew or reused HP chips or electronic circuitry\u201d in some printers, something HP has already faced criticism<\/a> and several class action lawsuits over.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Despite this, it seems HP\u2019s expanding its dynamic security policy to more devices that were once compatible with non-HP cartridges. One Reddit user, u\/grhhull, says<\/a> they\u2019re no longer able to use third-party ink cartridges with their HP printer. Instead of displaying a bypassable message that indicates HP can\u2019t guarantee the quality of their print, u\/grhhull says their printer won\u2019t use a third-party cartridge at all. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe indicated cartridges have been blocked by the printer firmware because they contain a non-HP chip,\u201d the message shown on the screen of u\/grhhull\u2019s printer reads. \u201cThis printer is intended to work only with new or reused cartridges that have a new or reused HP chip.\u201d According to u\/grhhull, an HP customer support specialist told them that this is part of a \u201crecent update.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In 2020, HP reached a $1.5 million settlement with customers<\/a> in the US as part of a class-action lawsuit that claimed the company\u2019s firmware acted as \u201cmalware\u201d by \u201cadding, deleting or altering code, diminishing the capabilities of HP printers, and rendering the competitors\u2019 supply cartridges incompatible with HP printers.\u201d The company also paid out millions to customers affected by dynamic security in the European Union<\/a> and Australia<\/a> after barring users from installing more affordable third-party ink cartridges.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As a small concession to customer complaints, HP issued an optional update in 2016<\/a> that removes dynamic security, but the change, confusingly, applies only to a set of specific models \u2014 some of which HP requires to be made before<\/em> December 1st, 2016. While it still remains unclear which HP printers have dynamic security installed, online posts indicate that the issue has spread to a number of models, including the OfficeJet Pro 6970<\/a>, OfficeJet Pro 6968<\/a>, OfficeJet 6950<\/a>, and OfficeJet 7740<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n This tracks with recent firmware updates released in December 2022<\/a> and January 2023<\/a> that note the inclusion of \u201cdynamic security measures, which are used to block cartridges using a non-HP chip or modified or non-HP electronic circuitry.\u201d They also state that \u201cperiodic firmware updates will maintain the effectiveness of the dynamic security measures and block cartridges that previously worked.\u201d The Verge<\/em> reached out to HP with a request for more information, and we\u2019ll update this article if we hear back.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As HP\u2019s net printing revenue slides<\/a>, 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<\/a> indicates that it could stop accepting third-party ink at any time, I\u2019m seriously considering switching to another printer brand if I don\u2019t have the option to use third-party ink in the future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n