HP's ink-blocking firmware may violate new global sustainability rules

submitted by throws_lemy to technology 670 points | 62 comments https://www.techspot.com/news/111672-hp-ink-blocking-firmware-clashes-new-global-sustainability.html

HP’s long-running use of firmware updates that block third-party ink and toner cartridges is drawing scrutiny again – this time under a new global sustainability standard that explicitly forbids the practice.

The International Imaging Technology Council (Int’l ITC), a trade group for cartridge remanufacturers, says HP’s latest printer firmware rollout conflicts with the requirements of the General Electronics Council’s (GEC) updated Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, or EPEAT 2.0.