Well-known blogger and advocate for the right to repair electronics Louis Rossmann in a recent video accused the office equipment manufacturer Brother of turning into an “anti-consumer company.” The blogger came to this conclusion after studying the new firmware for the manufacturer’s printers, which, among other things, blocks the ability to use third-party cartridges and color calibration (for color printers and MFPs).
Rossmann expressed outrage that Brother began blocking the use of third-party cartridges in its printers and MFPs without warning. He admitted that he used to advise people who encountered problems with non-genuine cartridges in HP or Canon printers to buy a Brother device. Now, he noted that Brother has joined other manufacturers in blocking the use of third-party cartridges in their devices, making it more difficult to choose a printer to buy.
After updating the firmware, Brother devices that previously worked without problems with third-party cartridges stop doing so. Apparently, this can only be avoided if the printer works locally without an Internet connection. It would also be a good idea to disable the automatic update option in the device settings.
Details about the failure of Brother printers and third-party cartridges are collected on a special website.
Rossmann also said Brother appears to be campaigning to remove older firmware for its printers and MFPs from its support websites. This means that users will have a harder time finding software unless they want to use the most current firmware, which blocks the use of third-party cartridges.