HP’s Toner-Blocking Settlement

HP has (quietly) settled a class action lawsuit over claims it deliberately blocked customers from using third-party toner cartridges in its printers, without paying a penny in damages.

Locking Out Third-Party Toner

The lawsuit centred on HP’s controversial Dynamic Security feature, i.e. software designed to detect and reject toner cartridges not produced by HP itself. The system, enabled through automatic firmware updates, left some users unable to print at all if they’d chosen cheaper, third-party alternatives.