Brother printers causing issues with third party inks: Difference between revisions
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Increased factual information regarding firmware updates. Changed tone for majority of the article from accusatory to more closely reflect the editorial guidelines. |
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[[Brother Industries Ltd.|Brother]] has a reputation for allowing the use of third-party toner and being more consumer friendly than competing printer companies | [[Brother Industries Ltd.|Brother]] has had a reputation for allowing the use of third-party toner and being more consumer-friendly than competing printer companies. In recent years, they've implemented firmware updates that discourage the use of toner made by companies other than Brother. The printer then repeatedly warns the user that using toner not manufactured by Brother could damage the printer. There are anecdotal reports that Brother's firmware update causes a deliberately lower print quality when using toner that is not from the original equipment manufacturer (OEM). These updates disable color registration & other features, encouraging the use of toner manufactured by Brother over other toner options.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Jacobs |first=Skye |date=2025-03-05 |title=Brother printers are quietly sabotaging third-party toner with firmware updates |url=https://www.techspot.com/news/107022-brother-printers-quietly-sabotaging-third-party-toner-firmware.html}}</ref> | ||
==Exploitative practices== | ==Exploitative practices== | ||
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2. A firmware update (e.g., W1.56) is pushed, which does not notify users of any major functional changes. | 2. A firmware update (e.g., W1.56) is pushed, which does not notify users of any major functional changes. | ||
3. After updating, users | 3. After updating, users report that: | ||
*Color registration fails automatically, misaligning prints.<ref name="cups">[https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/CUPS/Printer-specific_problems#Updating_the_firmware ArchWiki - Printer-specific problems with Brother.]</ref> | *Color registration fails automatically, misaligning prints.<ref name="cups">[https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/CUPS/Printer-specific_problems#Updating_the_firmware ArchWiki - Printer-specific problems with Brother.]</ref> | ||
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==User evidence & reports== | ==User evidence & reports== | ||
===Hacker News Discussion (2022)=== | ===Hacker News Discussion (2022)=== | ||
*Users noticed that Brother printers accepted third-party toner but deliberately degraded print quality. | *Users noticed that Brother printers accepted third-party toner but deliberately degraded print quality. | ||
*One user stated: | *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> | ||
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===Reddit reports (r/printers)=== | ===Reddit reports (r/printers)=== | ||
*A firmware update on the Brother MFC-3750 disabled automatic color registration when third-party toner was detected.<ref name="reddit" /> | *A firmware update on the Brother MFC-3750 disabled automatic color registration when third-party toner was detected.<ref name="reddit" /> | ||
*A Brother support agent confirmed that installing OEM toner would "fix" the issue instantly, | *A Brother support agent confirmed that installing OEM toner would "fix" the issue instantly, supporting user claims that the printer was being artificially restricted. | ||
===GitHub developer investigation=== | ===GitHub developer investigation=== | ||