Unsatisfied with charging more for ink by weight than a variety of rare metals, once again a printer maker is disabling your ability to use third party ink cartridges.  The most recent attempt at this was by Lexmark, who blocked the use of refilled cartridges until the US Supreme Court ruled this to be illegal and forced them to stop.  Before them it was HP who attempted this, though at least they backed off before a court case was filed; not that they don't attempt to do it again occasionally.

Today it is Epson attempting these shenanigans, after sneaking in a way to block the use of third party cartridges in an update they claimed was actually to improve the security of their printers.  Apparently they are hoping that this time they will succeed in monopolizing their ink, even with the previous failures mentioned.  The EFF have already sent a letter to the Texas Attorney General and are looking for customers in other locations to lodge complaints so they can file in other districts.

"Printer maker Epson is under fire this month from activist groups after a software update prevented customers from using cheaper, third party ink cartridges. It's just the latest salvo in a decades-long effort by printer manufacturers to block consumer choice, often by disguising printer downgrades as essential product improvements."

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