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Canon sued for disabling scanner when printers run out of ink

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Re: Canon sued for disabling scanner when printers run out of ink

#321

Post by ncallaway »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #308
noasaservice wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My big question here is: Why aren't companies being found criminally negligent with the CFAA when they force poison-pill "upgrades" that remove stated features from the original device? How is this functionally different than the crypt-ransomware we see in the news?

You gave authorized access in the EULA. What we need is real penalties for contracts of adhesion.

Do printers have an End User License Agreement?

The last printer I bought, I was able to setup and print with, without (explicitly) agreeing to any license. Is the EULA part of a software install process?

Re: Canon sued for disabling scanner when printers run out of ink

#323

Post by RealityVoid »

kube-system wrote: post #306
RealityVoid wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am still skeptic, honestly, are some metal gears worth the 20x-10x cost increase? Yes, you can make it more suited for long term use for _some_ cost, but that much? At what point is is actually fleecing customers? Some products surely are just fleecing, but how can you tell? Usually, you can't.

The difference between this: https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-deskjet-2755e-all-in-on... ... this: https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-laserjet-enterprise-mfp... ... and this: https://www.office.xerox.com/en-us/multifunction-printers/al... ... is not some metal gears. All three of those are machines with fundamentally different functions and capabilities. I have (long ago) supported consumer grade printers in an…

There is obviously a difference between the three, but is it that much? And how much is it really because of underlying technology and how much is it because of artificial market segmenting?

I also take offense with he fact that the 3rd example does not even have a listed price - that is a BIG red flag for the habit of making the customer pay as much as possible.

And the HW cost is justified, the SW cost is NOT, the interface should be simple and clean. Why is it not? No, here vendors are to blame.

Re: Canon sued for disabling scanner when printers run out of ink

#324

Post by ncallaway »

matheusmoreira wrote: post #60
egberts1 wrote: post #47

Brothers LaserJet. No malware, no adware, no funky drivers; just colored, WiFi, LP-protocol, multi-tray PCL and PS support. Best thing since sliced bread.

> no funky drivers Even on Linux?

My printer works on a framework laptop with Fedora 35 with absolutely no configuration, or any installations of any kind (beyond having connected to the wifi).

Ironically, my windows desktop won’t print to it though. It just reports an opaque error sending to the print queue with no diagnostic information. No idea if it’s a windows problem or a printer problem, because I just use my linux laptop to print with no issues, so I haven’t bothered to resolve the windows printing issues.

Re: Canon sued for disabling scanner when printers run out of ink

#325

Post by k8sToGo »

sedatk wrote: post #33
k8sToGo wrote: post #27

I bought a 99 bucks HP printer many years ago and signed up for HP instant ink. I have been printing for free basically since then since I print less than 15 pages a month. Don't even have to worry about the ink anymore as they send it automatically when it is near empty. There are a few downsides. They count per page basis. So even if you print only one letter, it counts against you. When you have to print a lot, th…

Good luck until you get "print head needs replacement" error, and realize that for some reason it's more expensive than the printer itself.

Thanks, but I have been using this combo for 4 years now and it's working just fine for me.

Re: Canon sued for disabling scanner when printers run out of ink

#326

Post by k8sToGo »

pxx wrote: post #36
k8sToGo wrote: post #27

I bought a 99 bucks HP printer many years ago and signed up for HP instant ink. I have been printing for free basically since then since I print less than 15 pages a month. Don't even have to worry about the ink anymore as they send it automatically when it is near empty. There are a few downsides. They count per page basis. So even if you print only one letter, it counts against you. When you have to print a lot, th…

Didn't they try rescinding this deal? https://www.consumerreports.org/printers/hp-ends-free-ink-fo... Regardless, the "free subscription" is no longer a thing that is available for purchase. It also doesn't seem cost effective, given the miniscule print quota; a single laser printer toner cartridge yields more than a decade of prints if you were able to somehow always hit exactly 15 pages a month.

I print less than 15 pages per month, and when I printed more it was a few bucks. So still a lot cheaper.

Re: Canon sued for disabling scanner when printers run out of ink

#328

Post by kyrra »

neilv wrote: post #173

As many techies will probably always say anytime inkjet product shenanigans come up: just buy a laser printer. And I now add: and don't let it connect to the Internet, and don't install proprietary drivers or software for it on your computers. Also, remember the names of companies doing sketchy things, and do your part to provide negative feedback when you can, and to give positive feedback to better companies. (Exam…

I had a Xerox laser printer for about 12 years, and it worked pretty well. No special drivers needed, just uses a standard pcl6 or postscript. The problem with it was toner cost. Official toner was stupid expensive, but there was decent aftermarket toner on Amazon that mostly worked.

I have since gone to a smarter printer with an Epson ecotank. Their ink is decent price and it works fairly well. Sadly The model I got requires custom drivers. Though they do have models that support PCL6/ postscript. The model I got also allows for larger paper sizes, but it does not handle it very well in the firmware.

Re: Canon sued for disabling scanner when printers run out of ink

#329

Post by noasaservice »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #308
noasaservice wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My big question here is: Why aren't companies being found criminally negligent with the CFAA when they force poison-pill "upgrades" that remove stated features from the original device? How is this functionally different than the crypt-ransomware we see in the news?

You gave authorized access in the EULA. What we need is real penalties for contracts of adhesion.

Prove it.

Re: Canon sued for disabling scanner when printers run out of ink

#330

Post by pnutjam »

willis936 wrote: post #229
jacquesm wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, just out of warranty... too bad, really! But do not despair, you could probably fix it if you set your mind to it, or make one working one out of two broken ones, assuming you can find another broken one.

This was years ago. I went without for a while but recently decided my demand for color printing and scanning in my home exceeded my supply of cash needed to get a crappy injket. Even used color laserjets are hard to come by for mortal prices.

watch craigslist and such. I got a brother 4040C N for $20 with full toner.
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