In a recently released blog post, HP’s chief operating officer Jon Flaxman has revealed that the company will soon release an optional software update to withdraw the restriction it had imposed on the use of third-party ink cartridges on HP pointers.

The restriction on the usage of recycled and third-party ink cartridges – which are generally cheaper than HP’s official cartridges for its printers – was quietly imposed by HP when it rolled out a ‘security update’ that prevented its printers from operating with several third-party ink cartridges.

The ‘security update’ by HP blocking the use of third-party ink cartridges was widely criticized by the owners of HP printers; and their calls to the company to overturn the move were backed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Against the backdrop of the criticism by the owners of HP printers, HP has now revealed – via Flaxman’s blog post titled ‘Dedicated to the best printing experience’ – that a forthcoming optional software update to be issued by the company will rollback the controversial ‘security update.’

In an apology for blocking third-party ink cartridges on its printers, HP said that the company is “committed to transparency in all of our communications and when we fall short, we call ourselves out,” and added that the optional software update will likely be “ready within two weeks.”