近日，打印行业巨头惠普公司因涉嫌通过固件更新限制用户使用非原厂墨盒，遭到集体诉讼。原告指控惠普在2022年和2023年悄然限制用户使用非原厂墨盒，同时提高原厂墨盒价格。诉讼称，惠普此举旨在垄断墨盒市场，进而抬高售价。
原告表示，惠普未提前告知消费者固件更新将影响打印机功能。更新后，使用非原厂墨盒的打印机会被“禁用”，并在打印时弹出错误信息。错误信息显示，非惠普芯片的墨盒已被打印机固件屏蔽。消费者被迫购买价格更高的惠普原厂墨盒，此前购买的非原厂墨盒也无法使用，造成浪费。
诉讼要求进行陪审团审判，索赔至少500万美元，并要求惠普从固件更新中移除限制非原厂墨盒使用的功能。值得一提的是，过去几年，惠普一直在调整部分打印产品价格。多个惠普墨盒的价格在2022年底大幅上涨，并持续到2023年。
Title: HP faces collective lawsuit for secretly updating printer firmware to limit non-original ink cartridge use
Keywords: HP, collective lawsuit, printer firmware, non-original ink cartridges, market monopoly
News content:
Recently, printing giant HP has been sued collectively for allegedly limiting users’ ability to use non-original ink cartridges through secret firmware updates, while simultaneously raising the prices of original ink cartridges. The plaintiffs accuse HP of quietly restricting the use of non-original ink cartridges and increasing the prices in 2022 and 2023. The lawsuit claims that HP’s actions aim to monopolize the ink cartridge market and thereby increase prices.
The plaintiffs argue that HP did not notify consumers in advance about the impact of firmware updates on printer functionality. After the update, printers using non-original ink cartridges are “disabled” and error messages are displayed when attempting to print. The error messages state that ink cartridges with non-HP chips have been blocked by the printer firmware. Consumers are forced to buy more expensive HP original ink cartridges, and previously purchased non-original ink cartridges become unusable, resulting in waste.
The lawsuit demands a jury trial, seeks at least $5 million in damages, and asks HP to remove the restriction on non-original ink cartridge use from the firmware update. Interestingly, HP has been quietly adjusting the prices of some printing products in recent years. The prices of multiple HP ink cartridges have skyrocketed since the end of 2022 and continued into 2023.
【来源】https://www.ithome.com/0/744/661.htm
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