Tell the FTC: End the ink trap

FTC Chair Lina M. Khan:

Manufacturers design printers that cajole, push and even force us into paying exorbitant prices for ink. These software locks push us to buy their name-brand expensive ink, which is sold at an absurd markup — as much as 10,000% over wholesale prices.

We need the government to regulate these unfair business practices. Americans could save as much as $10 billion per year if printer manufacturers let us use refilled, third-party ink cartridges.

Neither consumers nor the planet benefit from the lack of healthy competition among ink manufacturers. I urge the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to clarify that using software to push us to buy ink only from the manufacturer constitutes illegal “tying.”

Sincerely,