Canon forced to send ‘knockoff’ ink cartridges due to lack of chip (modified)

Manufacturers of printing presses have been using chips to prevent the sale of third-party ink cartridges and to drive you to their products, but now they feel the pain of the restrictions. The Register and USA Today Note that Canon has it had to send toner cartridges without safety chips because constant lack. This, in turn, has caused some ImageRunner publishers to misuse it to announce Certified cartridges like knockoffs – Canon has told the printers how to bypass warnings and deal with toner breakage.

We asked Canon for comment. Some users said they had experienced similar problems with HP printers, but the company could not confirm or deny the problems in its own words. The Register. Instead, HP claimed to be using a “diverse” global network to be “fast and flexible” amid the lack of chip.

The printer problem illustrates one of the most common complaints about digital rights management (DRM) and other copyright protection systems: they create a problem when manufacturers are unable to provide adequate support. Just ask the people who bought the music built by Microsoft’s PlaysForSure, For example. It is unlikely that Canon, HP or any of them will throw DRM chips anytime soon, but this feature will not really help them.

Update 1/12 1:05 PM ET: Canon told Engadget that its goal was to “reduce potential distractions” for customers, and also include shipping toner cartridges without anti-knockoff chips. The company emphasized that there was no shortage of cartridges – American customers still have “continuous offerings.” You can read all the words below.

While the global shortage of semiconductor equipment continues to affect many industries, it is crucial to reduce the potential for disruption to our customers. As with all manufacturers, we constantly monitor our movements to anticipate and correct any disruptions and take action to address the problem, such as changing design. One example of this is in the toner cartridges of some of our MFP equipment (imageRUNNER / imageRUNNER ADVANCE) as we experience a small chip inserted inside the toner cartridge to check its remaining toner levels. There is no shortage of toner cartridge only – the lack of a chip inside the toner cartridge. As a result, we are now shipping toner cartridges for some of our MFP equipment without this chip to ensure we continue to supply continuous supplies to our Canon USA customers. We have also provided instructions on how to install and upgrade these new toner cartridges.