HP wants consumers to use a subscription-based printing service –

February 29 HP launched a subscription service which allows you to rent a printer, gives subscribers a set variety of pages to print and sends them ink every month for a fee. This fee relies on the printer model and the variety of pages allocated, starting from $6.99 per 30 days for the HP Envy and 20 pages printed to $35.99 for the HP Officejet Pro and 700 pages printed.

As we reported, the corporate is introducing a subscription model to profit small businesses or families, however the deal also requires a two-12 months commitment and monitoring by the corporate. Additionally, HP requires an energetic Internet connection or it is going to terminate the service; while charging for it if the printer seems to be offline.

The company defends this controversial practice, saying it’s needed to maintain the service. According to its privacy policy, HP has the proper to “share information about you with advertising partners.” As such, they “recognize your devices” and in addition gives these third-party partners the potential ability to “combine information about you with information from other companies in data-sharing cooperatives.”

HP also maintains in its “Plan All-In” privacy policy that it “only collects data necessary to provide services such as HP All-In Plan” and that it “does not sell customer information to third parties for advertising or other purposes.”

However, as reported, the HP program follows a commitment from HP CEO Enrique Lorres make printing an HP subscription service. In January, Lorres stated that this system was motivated by a desire to make printing more sustainable. “We believe we need to make printing as easy as possible,” Lores said. “Our long-term goal is to enable subscription printing. This is really what we rode. We know it lowers the barriers to printing, offers customers a much more convenient solution and (is) especially more sustainable.”

As reported, HP and Lorres were are already facing criticism for the practice of “walling”, or effectively disabling HP printers using third-party ink. Lores explained this practice by saying that the ink cartridges one way or the other exposed their systems to viruses. Lores explained the corporate’s actual motivations, saying: “We announced a few years ago that our goal was to reduce the number of so-called unprofitable customers,” Lores told CNBC Television. “Because each purchase of a printer by a customer is an investment for us. We are investing (in) that customer, and if that customer doesn’t print enough or doesn’t use our supplies, it’s a bad investment.”

Meanwhile, customers sensed that HP’s move was a money grab and filed several class-motion lawsuits holding the corporate accountable for its printer-locking practice. These lawsuits resulted in the corporate having to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to affected customers.

According to January 2024 Class Action Lawsuit filed in Illinois alleges that HP has a de facto monopoly within the alternative ink cartridge market. The lawsuit states: “In effect, HP used the software update to create a monopoly in the aftermarket for replacement cartridges, allowing it to raise prices without fear of being undercut by competitors.”

The lawsuit alleges that HP violates the Sherman Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and consumer protection and antitrust laws in all 50 states, in addition to the District of Columbia. The plaintiffs also seek a jury trial and compensatory, statutory and punitive damages for themselves and everybody who joined within the lawsuit.