Brother printers causing issues with third party inks: Difference between revisions
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|Company=Brother Industries Ltd. | |||
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|Type=Third-party | |||
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[[Brother Industries Ltd.|'''Brother''']] is a printer company that has allowed the use of third-party toner cartridges with their printer devices. Recent firmware updates have changed this practice by displaying an error message when consumers attempt to install their third-party toner that was previously allowed. When using the Brother printer with the toner of their choice, some users report a significant decrease in print quality, functionally disabling the printer unless OEM toner is installed.<ref name="reddit" /> | [[Brother Industries Ltd.|'''Brother''']] is a printer company that has allowed the use of third-party toner cartridges with their printer devices. Recent firmware updates have changed this practice by displaying an error message when consumers attempt to install their third-party toner that was previously allowed. When using the Brother printer with the toner of their choice, some users report a significant decrease in print quality, functionally disabling the printer unless OEM toner is installed.<ref name="reddit" /> | ||
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*Users have noticed that Brother's printers do accept third-party toner instead of outright rejection. This leads some to suspect the consequential loss of print quality may be a deliberate act. One user stated: | *Users have noticed that Brother's printers do accept third-party toner instead of outright rejection. This leads some to suspect the consequential loss of print quality may be a deliberate act. One user stated: | ||
<blockquote>''Brother seems to be apparently accepting the ink, but then purposefully making the print quality poorer.''<ref name="hackernews" /></blockquote> | <blockquote>''Brother seems to be apparently accepting the ink, but then purposefully making the print quality poorer.''<ref name="hackernews" /></blockquote> | ||
===Free Software Foundation=== | |||
*FSF has listed this incident under the "Installing, deleting or disabling programs" in "Proprietary Back Doors" chapter<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-12-14 |title=Proprietary Back Doors |url=https://www.gnu.org/proprietary/proprietary-back-doors.html#install-delete |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251218062339/https://www.gnu.org/proprietary/proprietary-back-doors.html |archive-date=2025-12-18 |access-date=2025-12-18 |website=GNU Operating System}}</ref>: | |||
<blockquote>When connected to the internet, some Brother printers suffer a firmware downgrade that degrades the printing quality when using third-party toner. This proves that these printers have a back door which lets Brother control them. | |||
As a general precaution, users should make sure their printer can't connect to the manufacturer's server, for example by shielding it from the internet by a firewall. This will not restore the ability of printers to use third-party toner if they have already lost it, but will prevent any future downgrades. All printer manufacturers are concerned, not only Brother.</blockquote> | |||
===Reddit reports (r/printers)=== | ===Reddit reports (r/printers)=== | ||
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==See also== | ==See also== | ||
*[[HP Dynamic Security| | *[[HP Dynamic Security|HP Dynamic Security]] | ||
*[[Brother DCP-L3550CDW aftermarket toner failure]] | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{Reflist}} | |||
[[Category:Brother]] | [[Category:Brother]] | ||
[[Category:Digital | [[Category:Digital restrictions]] | ||
[[Category:Vendor | [[Category:Vendor lock-in]] | ||
[[Category:Post- | [[Category:Post-sale firmware lockouts]] | ||