Printer manufacturers face legal problems in france

Epson, Canon, HP and Brother would have deliberately limited the life span of their printers

As a result of the new law, executives at four printer manufacturers face a maximum sentence of two years in prison and fines of up to 300, 000 euros if found guilty. Additionally, companies could be fined by paying 5% of the annual average earnings they received over the past three years.

According to the French environmental association, both HP and Canon, Epson and Brother "have broken the law by encouraging consumers to buy new printers instead of prolonging the lives of their old printers."

“The association was alerted by numerous people scandalized by the short life of its printers and cartridges. We have reason to believe that this is a real problem, "said Laetitia Vasseur, the founder of the association.

According to the same lawsuit, Epson is one of the companies that has done the worst in this regard, since the cartridges for its printers were programmed to stop working when there is 20% ink left inside, in addition to the prices of the Ink tanks are usually equal to or even greater than that of a new printer.

On the other hand, Stop Planned Obsolescence also denounced the continuous increase in the price of cartridges, which usually cost up to twice as much as a Chanel No 5 perfume.

To date, Epson, Brother and HP have said nothing about the new lawsuit, while Canon said it would cooperate with authorities in order to help "sustainable economic growth in the sector."

It remains to be seen what the prosecution's decision is and what the action will be.

Source: The Recycler