I too watched Louis Rossman’s YouTube video to author.
Brother accused of locking down third-party printer ink cartridges via forced firmware updates, removing older firmware versions from support portals
Submitted 13 hours ago by misk@sopuli.xyz to technology@lemmy.world
Comments
Cocopanda@futurology.today 1 hour ago
IDKWhatUsernametoPutHereLolol@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 hours ago
Proton, Mozilla, Brother
Its not gonna stop there
😓
obinice@lemmy.world 8 hours ago
You were the chosen one! 😭
9488fcea02a9@sh.itjust.works 5 hours ago
They had two things going for them… Decent linux support and non-shitty DRM ink/toner
Naich@lemmings.world 12 hours ago
Oh FFS. Not Brother as well. I used to recommend them to everyone. Who is left with unshittified printers?
Pregnenolone@lemmy.world 2 hours ago
I don’t at all feel vindicated, but my Brother printer is the worst printer I ever owned (this was 20 years ago admittedly). Absolute hunk of junk with nothing but problems. I’ve always wondered why they were so well recommended online.
nul9o9@lemmy.world 12 hours ago
Epson inkjets with refillable tanks probably.
Gullible@sh.itjust.works 12 hours ago
Depending on the frequency of your printing, they can suck as well. Chronically clogged nozzles are maddening.
Rozz@lemmy.sdf.org 2 hours ago
The printer has the same ink problems, clogged, runs out easy, can’t print b&w when missing a color. But I can buy random ink.
atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 9 hours ago
Did they ever make the excess ink parts user replaceable?
That they weren’t in some models kept me from getting one when I was in the market a few years ago.
Hideakikarate@sh.itjust.works 12 hours ago
I don’t know if it matters, but I just bought a Canon laser printer. Didn’t see anywhere about forced subscription options for toner.
Tippon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 hours ago
I’ve got a Lexmark laser printer, and while there are cheaper subscription toners, you can pay the higher price for normal toner, and buy compatibles, for now at least.
noxypaws@pawb.social 2 hours ago
These motherfuckers are actively making tech as a whole less secure by destroying any trust the public may have had in firmware updates.
Urgent security fixes are gonna go unpatched on a lot of shit because consumers are seeing more and more firmware or software updates actively making things WORSE.
Limonene@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
In case anyone was thinking this applies only to inkjet printers: no, it ONLY seems to apply to laser printers – the thing that Brother used to be known for. Where the article says “ink”, they mean “toner”. There is no ink in a laser printer.
mlemiputty@sh.itjust.works 11 hours ago
Could this be anything related to government printer tracking requirements?
shalafi@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
I believe that only applies to ink jet. You can hardly make secret dots in B&W.
RejZoR@lemmy.ml 9 hours ago
Et tu Brother?
redbr64@lemmy.world 1 hour ago
Fuck I just got rid of my 2008 BW laser brother and bought a new one that hasn’t arrived. Thanks for the warning, at least I will be able to set my firewall before I even connect it to my network
DirkMcCallahan@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
It’s like every company that wasn’t complete shit just suddenly decided to…go to complete shit.
surph_ninja@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
If regulators don’t stop them from doing it, the CEO’s of publicly traded companies will get the boot from the board for not doing it. They have a fiduciary duty to be as shitty as humanly possible.
We need laws to stop this, but the politicians are all bribed not to.
grue@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
They have a fiduciary duty to be as shitty as humanly possible.
They don’t – that’s a cargo-cult misunderstanding of Dodge v. Ford Motor Co – but it’s so widely believed I guess it might as well be true.
Artyom@lemm.ee 2 hours ago
The government has mostly turned a blind eye to dark pattern business for years, and now the president is openly saying that he encourages it and wants companies to step up their game. Of course things are going to get worse, especially now where everyone will have forgotten this by the next election, so it’ll get to stay as “the norm”
Sturgist@lemmy.ca 8 hours ago
It’s like every company that was
n’t completeplaying the social good will game and didn’t appear at a casual glance to be shit just suddenly decided to…goto complete shit.masks off, because they saw it might finally be acceptable to be ghouls again.Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure I FTFY. Wish it weren’t so, but that’s definitely what it looks like…
SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
The mask of humanity fall[s] from capital. It has to take it off to kill everyone – everything you love; all the hope and tenderness in the world. It has to take it off, just for one second. To do the deed.
- Disco Elysium
lone_faerie@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 hours ago
With the current US government, there’s far more roadblocks to running a company ethically than turning it to absolute shit
weirdboy@lemm.ee 2 hours ago
Brother is a Japanese company.
bokherif@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
That’s what happens when the government allows it openly.
Ghyste@sh.itjust.works 10 hours ago
Brother used to be the good guys… Damn.
dragonfucker@lemmy.nz 2 hours ago
Drag thought Brother were supposed to be the makers of user friendly printers. Are they enshittifying?
match@pawb.social 5 hours ago
anyone know about jailbreaking printers
caseyweederman@lemmy.ca 5 hours ago
It absolutely baffles me that there isn’t a huge custom printer firmware movement.
NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml 4 hours ago
I’ve have had this thought too and the only reason I can think of is that the inkjet printers are sold at such a rediculous loss, that anything that could be sold next to them without the offset price from ink would seem like a bad joke.
mp3@lemmy.ca 12 hours ago
I suggest whoever has old firmware files to upload them to the Internet Archive (if they allow those).
datavoid@lemmy.ml 6 hours ago
Internet Archive is extremely lax in what it allows
YarrMatey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 hours ago
Got this link from reddacted
mega.nz/folder/gjgiXA4Z#VHJqPNUx8wgcPYyfq44zag
SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
nononononononpnNONONONONONO WHYYYYY I JUST GOT A BROTHER BECAUSE OF HP DOING THE SAME THING WTF
deathbird@mander.xyz 4 hours ago
Keep it off the Internet and don’t update the firmware
mavu@discuss.tchncs.de 6 hours ago
Et tu Brute! :(
user224@lemmy.sdf.org 12 hours ago
And once again the only available good tech is old 2nd hand.
ghostrider2112@lemmy.world 12 hours ago
Yep. Just getting ready to replace the color laser printer I bought almost 20 years ago. I had been considering a new Brother before this but looks like I’m going the 2nd hand route again (last one was an open box HP from microcenter for $200 lol)
shalafi@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
I got a tiny HP laser from an old job. Must be 15+ years old, runs perfectly and toner is $20 for god knows how many pages.
Quazatron@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
Looks like nobody can or is willing to do decent printers anymore. I’ll run my Laserjet 1100 till it dies, then I’m done with printing.
LemmyFeed@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 hours ago
This shit happened to me recently. Installed firmware update and immediately my 3rd party toner stops working. Try to find old firmware to roll back to and couldn’t locate it anywhere. Found some for other models via Google drive links in Reddit posts, but nothing for my printer.
I replaced the toner with new 3rd party toner which worked. And now I’ll never install another firmware update on the printer and should probably block it from the internet.
skankhunt42@lemmy.ca 12 hours ago
Nice, Brother was the last one standing in my mind.
I’m glad I have an IoT vlan without internet access. Nothing is allowed to phone home here.
OhVenus_Baby@lemmy.ml 8 hours ago
This is a total shit move but I have tried many printers and I’m still choosing Brother everytime. Especially on some older generations with copy scan and print.
some_designer_dude@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
Give them time and they’ll suck too. Nothing is safe from enshitification, as they’ve just shown us.
OhVenus_Baby@lemmy.ml 2 hours ago
Oh I believe it but no doubt. But right now even with this totally shitty move and I mean totally shitty move. Brother atleast their older models still accept 3rd party cartridges. Everyone buy those! Fuck the new stuff.
spooky2092@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 hours ago
I fear the day my 2014 hp LaserJet dies. There won’t be a decent printer on the market…
DFX4509B_2@lemmy.org 7 hours ago
It’s going to get to the point where you might be better off going back to dot matrix if tank-based inkjet printers are somehow locked down via chemical DRM too.
flavonol@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
If it’s not already under the umbrella of right to repair, do we now need right to refill?
catloaf@lemm.ee 12 hours ago
if the update doesn’t allow the printer to calibrate with this aftermarket ink the cheaper carts become basically unusable
This isn’t true. It just means you have to do the registration manually.
This is scummy behavior for sure, but it’s also being exaggerated for clicks.
SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org 5 hours ago
Haha, my crappy ass old HP printer still takes refills. No printer company shall ever see another cent of mine 😈
Sanctus@lemmy.world 12 hours ago
I think its time we deprecate most forms of printing. Clearly corporations cannot be trusted to operate these kinds of companies.
AppearanceBoring9229@sh.itjust.works 12 hours ago
They were the last good guys :(
I guess it’s time to buy the printer I’ve been postponing
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
Oh, Brother.
BroBot9000@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
Anyone know which ip addresses to block to stop the updates?
lemming741@lemmy.world 9 hours ago
If you set the wrong gateway in the static IP settings or a reserved DHCP lease, it won’t be able to get out.
elvith@feddit.org 9 hours ago
Why? Does the printer need to be connected to the internet at all, if not for firmware upgrades? (Note: LAN != internet)
Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world 8 hours ago
Many people use WiFi to connect to their printers for the sake of convenience
MisanthropiCynic@lemm.ee 7 hours ago
Someone needs to Luigi Brother’s CEO
AlecSadler@sh.itjust.works 1 hour ago
Going to be honest, didn’t realize my Brother laser printer got firmware updates, lol.
In 7 years I’ve replaced the toner cartridge once, given that the stater cartridge isn’t very full I imagine it’ll be awhile before I have to replace it again, at least.