The printer manufacturers' business models are tailored to the artificial regulatory environment they helped create, where it's illegal to modify hardware you purchased and own, and illegal to advertise products that are compatible with a competitor's product. (or you'd be saddling yourself with 6 figures of court costs, which may as well be the same thing)
Imagine if your power company lobbied to make it illegal to send electricity through third-party cables, and then gave away power for pennies (because "people would like to buy as cheap as possible"), but sold 3-foot extension cords for $139 each (because of "safety", "hackers", whatever). Would you be ok with your power company going through these contortions to support a pricing model not tied to reality?
Imagine if your power company lobbied to make it illegal to send electricity through third-party cables, and then gave away power for pennies (because "people would like to buy as cheap as possible"), but sold 3-foot extension cords for $139 each (because of "safety", "hackers", whatever). Would you be ok with your power company going through these contortions to support a pricing model not tied to reality?