Canon sells DRM-free ink cartridges

lack of chips It leads to all kinds of surreal situations. The last of them, which might have been unimaginable only a few months ago, was Cannon as the protagonist. The company was forced to sell DRM-free ink cartridges, and even explains how to bypass them to customers.

In other words, Canon is doing what it has spent most of its life trying to avoid, an inconsistency that, shall we say, stems from the months-long chip crisis around the world. Of course, even if they sell cartridges without ink, they are told not to buy them from third parties.

The company’s main problem is getting the chips attached to the ink cartridges that certify their legitimacy for their printers. As a result, they have to explain to customers how to bypass their DRM.

At the moment, the problem is only with Canon Germany, which has released a public statement on its website (which was also emailed to some customers) stating that due to a lack of chips, even official Canon ink can be considered counterfeit on an assortment from their printers. As part of the statement, the company also issued instructions on how to bypass its digital rights management (DRM). A problem that could extend beyond Canon Germany to other Canon Europe entities.

According to the statement:

We value you as a customer and regular user of Canon products.

Due to the ongoing global shortage of semiconductor components, Canon is currently facing challenges in sourcing certain electronic components that are used in consumables for our MFPs. These components perform, for example, functions such as detecting the remaining ink level.

To ensure a continuous and reliable supply of consumables, we have decided to deliver the consumables without semiconductor components until the normal supply is restored.

There is no negative impact on print quality when using consumables without electronic components, but there are certain additional functions, such as ex. Ink level detection may be affected.

According to the calculation, 19 lines of printers and multiple models will be affected by the problem, which is why the company has included instructions on how to fix the problem for each one on its website, which are basically the official instructions for ignoring warnings in their printer software.

How do they calculate it? betapixelThe absurdity of DRM, which recently sued Canon for disabling its printers’ scanning function when ink cartridges are empty, has prompted it to explain to customers how to circumvent its methods. terrify Customers only have to buy Official Ink and ignore the error messages.[[[[betapixel]