Earlier this week, we highlighted RepairTuber Louis Rossmann’s video and wiki, which collected and presented evidence that Brother printers had turned to the dark side. Today, Ars Technica has published a lengthy statement from Brother, which asserts that it hasn’t been leveraging firmware updates to prevent printers from using third party toner or ink supplies. In brief, Brother thinks that negative social media and forum posts stem from misunderstandings or the (low) quality of non-genuine supplies.
Rossmann’s video is a heartfelt lament about the demise of the last decent printer company. But might he and the collection of Brother grievances that form the related wiki be in error? Brother is resolute in its denials of restricting third-party toner and ink cartridges, and its explanations seem pretty reasonable. Moreover, Rossmann’s sources were not numerous or high-quality. For example, we didn’t see any tech reviewers highlight Brother’s move to the dark side of the printer supplies and service markets.
