Brother ink lockout & quality sabotage

Brother used to be known for allowing third-party toner use & being less consumer hostile than companies such as HP. In recent years, they've implemented firmware updates that deliberately degrade print quality when using non-OEM toner. These updates disable color registration & other features which coerces consumers into buying expensive genuine Brother toner.(citation needed)

Exploitative practices

• Post-Sale Function Removal – Firmware updates retroactively remove previously available features, such as automatic color registration, for users using non-OEM toner.
• Vendor lock-in via DRM – Printers continue to function with third-party toner but print at degraded quality unless OEM toner is installed.
• Anti-consumer software practices – Firmware updates cannot be easily rolled back, preventing consumers from restoring lost functionality.
• Deceptive practices – Printers do not outright reject third-party toner but instead engineer a failure, misleading users into thinking their toner is defective.

How it works

1. Consumers purchase a Brother laser printer that previously accepted third-party toner.

2. A firmware update (e.g., W1.56) is pushed, which does not notify users of any major functional changes.

3. After updating, users notice that:

• Color registration fails automatically, misaligning prints.
• Brother support admits that installing OEM toner will resolve the issue instantly.
• Older firmware versions are removed from Brother’s servers, preventing downgrades.

Real-world impact

• Customers who used to save money buying third-party toner are now forced into expensive OEM purchases.
• Brother’s positive reputation for allowing third-party toner is tarnished.
• No prior warning was given to consumers before these updates were installed.
• Workarounds involve blocking firmware updates or attempting risky firmware downgrades, both of which Brother actively discourages.

Brother's response

On March 5th 2025, following the publication of a video on the Louis Rossmann youtube channel, Brother addressed the issue, in a response given to Ars Technica, stating the following

We are aware of the recent false claims suggesting that a Brother firmware update may have restricted the use of third-party ink cartridges. Please be assured that Brother firmware updates do not block the use of third-party ink in our machines.

They also detailed that

Brother printers do not intentionally degrade print quality based on whether a Brother Genuine or non-genuine ink/ toner cartridge is used. Brother cannot verify the quality of printing that will result when using a third-party compatible with a Brother printer.

Finally they attributed the confusion from consumers to

Brother encourages the use of Brother Genuine ink and toner for optimal performance and reliability, and it is standard practice that we perform a Brother [G]enuine check when troubleshooting a Brother printer. Compatible supplies may range in quality, and in order to verify that a printer is working properly, we like to troubleshoot with Brother Genuine supplies. We believe this check in the process may have led to a misunderstanding[,] but as we confirmed, the firmware update would not be responsible for the degradation of quality or removal of printer features.

User evidence & reports

Hacker News Discussion (2022)

• Users noticed that Brother printers accepted third-party toner but deliberately degraded print quality.
• One user stated:

Brother seems to be apparently accepting the ink, but then purposefully making the print quality poorer.

Reddit reports (r/printers)

• A firmware update on the Brother MFC-3750 disabled automatic color registration when third-party toner was detected.
• A Brother support agent confirmed that installing OEM toner would "fix" the issue instantly, proving that the printer was being artificially restricted.

GitHub developer investigation

• A project analyzing Brother firmware updates discovered that older firmware versions were removed from Brother’s servers, making it impossible for users to roll back to a working version.
• Another github discussion showed that Brother firmware updates increasingly lock out more non-Brother toner cartridges with each new update!
• This is similar to HP Dynamic Security which block non-OEM cartridges.

Comparison to other industry abuses

Company	Tactic Used
HP	"Dynamic Security" firmware updates blocking non-OEM ink
Epson	Ink expiration DRM, even when cartridges are full
Canon	Firmware updates that disable scanning when ink is low
Brother	Print degradation for non-OEM toner users

Potential legal implications

Deliberate function removal after purchase may qualify as deceptive trade practices in multiple jurisdictions.

Mitigations available to users

1. Avoid Firmware Updates – Disable auto-updates to prevent forced function removal. This may, however, lead to security risks.
2. Try to downgrade – Some users have managed to roll back firmware, though this is increasingly difficult.

Cargo data

Testing extension to add metadata to pages

Companies	Brother Industries Ltd.
Categories	Digital restrictions,Firmware lockout
Date of incident	2025