An end to expensive print cartridge lock-in? Researchers hack DRM in what could be a new dawn for printing fans
Experts find a way to make the printer believe there are still pages to be printed.
Hackers have found a new way to bypass the strict digital rights management (DRM) rules imposed on HP printers. This allows users to refill old and emptied cartridges, and thus continue printing without having to spend extra money on new, original ones.
Here is a little background: HP allegedly sells printers at a loss. To make up for it, the company sells ink cartridges at elevated prices, which infuriates the users. As a result, users turned to third-party ink cartridge manufacturers. HP responds by embedding chips into the cartridges, rendering third party products useless.
Users respond by refilling old cartridges instead of buying new, third-party ones. HP then responds by adding a page limiter: the printer starts counting how many pages the user prints, and then simply stops working when a certain page number is reached.
Adding a chip to the cartridge
As reported by Tom’s Hardware, a YouTube creator called Jay Summet demonstrated how he added a flexible printed circuit board (PCB) on the cartridge’s original contacts, and then routed the signal passing through, to a chip.
The signal is there altered, telling the printer that the page limit has not yet been reached. The altered signal is then rerouted to another set of contacts, making the printer “think” it’s getting the information from an original cartridge.
Whether or not the crack picks up in the HP printer community remains to be seen, but one thing is certain – users obviously don’t approve of HP’s current business model and will always find new ways to work around it. In the meantime, HP has a few lawsuits against printer DRM to attend to, anyway, the publication reminds.
Perhaps the company will be legally forced to quit this practice and find another business model, even if it means making more expensive models.
More from TechRadar Pro
Check out the best home printers right nowHere’s a list of the best firewalls around todayThese are the best endpoint security tools right now