Canon ink DRM: Difference between revisions
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[[Digital rights management]] (DRM) is a practice used by many major printer manufacturers, including | [[Digital rights management]] (DRM) is a practice used by many major printer manufacturers, including [Canon]]. The manufacturers include silicon chips as part of the ink cartridges that can identify a cartridge as coming directly from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) as opposed to an aftermarket alternative, which is often cheaper. When aftermarket cartridges are inserted, some printers will display a message suggesting the supposed dangers of using non-genuine ink and have in the past, disabled device functionality when aftermarket ink is installed.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barret |first=Brian |date=23 Sep 2016 |title=HP Has Added DRM to Its Ink Cartridges. Not Even Kidding (Updated) |url=https://www.wired.com/2016/09/hp-printer-drm/ |url-status=live |access-date=20 Mar 2025 |website=Wired}}</ref> The DRM chip also prevents the OEM ink cartridges from being refilled, it communicates to the printer that the specific cartridge has already been used.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Gault |first=Matthew |date=11 Jan 2022 |title=Canon Tells Customers to Break Its Printer Cartridge DRM Due to Chip Shortage |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/canon-tells-customers-to-break-its-printer-cartridge-drm-due-to-chip-shortage/ |url-status=live |access-date=20 Mar 2025 |website=Vice}}</ref> | ||
==Incident== | ==Incident== | ||
During the global chip shortage from 2020–2023, Canon had difficulty obtaining chips used in their printer ink cartridges. This resulted in genuine Canon ink cartridges behaving as if they were aftermarket cartridges when inserted into some Canon printers. A support page on the Canon website was created that instructed customers to ignore the warning or error messages that appeared as a result, stating this would cause "no negative effects on print quality".<ref>Original: [https://www.canon.de/support/business/interim-toner/ Canon Support - Germany] Archived Dec 31st 2023: [https://web.archive.org/web/20231231021849/https://www.canon.de/support/business/interim-toner/ archive.org]</ref> | During the global chip shortage from 2020–2023, Canon had difficulty obtaining chips used in their printer ink cartridges. This resulted in genuine Canon ink cartridges behaving as if they were aftermarket cartridges when inserted into some Canon printers. A support page on the Canon website was created that instructed customers to ignore the warning or error messages that appeared as a result, stating this would cause "no negative effects on print quality".<ref>Original: [https://www.canon.de/support/business/interim-toner/ Canon Support - Germany] Archived Dec 31st 2023: [https://web.archive.org/web/20231231021849/https://www.canon.de/support/business/interim-toner/ archive.org]</ref> | ||
Revision as of 18:52, 10 January 2026
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Digital rights management (DRM) is a practice used by many major printer manufacturers, including [Canon]]. The manufacturers include silicon chips as part of the ink cartridges that can identify a cartridge as coming directly from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) as opposed to an aftermarket alternative, which is often cheaper. When aftermarket cartridges are inserted, some printers will display a message suggesting the supposed dangers of using non-genuine ink and have in the past, disabled device functionality when aftermarket ink is installed.[1] The DRM chip also prevents the OEM ink cartridges from being refilled, it communicates to the printer that the specific cartridge has already been used.[2]
Incident
During the global chip shortage from 2020–2023, Canon had difficulty obtaining chips used in their printer ink cartridges. This resulted in genuine Canon ink cartridges behaving as if they were aftermarket cartridges when inserted into some Canon printers. A support page on the Canon website was created that instructed customers to ignore the warning or error messages that appeared as a result, stating this would cause "no negative effects on print quality".[3]
Consumer Response
Company Response
Canon's instructions to customers in its support page to ignore these printer warning messages drew attention on social media from tech news outlets that considered the practice anti-competitive,[4] with Vice stating: "as consumers and digital rights activists have been pointing out for ages, Canon essentially admits that its own DRM is absolutely not necessary".[2]
References
- ↑ Barret, Brian (23 Sep 2016). "HP Has Added DRM to Its Ink Cartridges. Not Even Kidding (Updated)". Wired. Retrieved 20 Mar 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 Gault, Matthew (11 Jan 2022). "Canon Tells Customers to Break Its Printer Cartridge DRM Due to Chip Shortage". Vice. Retrieved 20 Mar 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Original: Canon Support - Germany Archived Dec 31st 2023: archive.org
- ↑ Tracy, Phillip (11 Jan 2022). "Printer Cartridge Debacle Forces Canon to Tell Customers How to Break DRM". GizModo. Retrieved 20 Mar 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)