lockout chip

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In a general sense, a lockout chip is a chip within an electronic device to prevent other manufacturers from using a company's device to perform certain functions.

A notable example is the lockout chip found in Nintendo's Nintendo Entertainment System (called 10NES), designed to prevent "unlicensed" manufacturers from creating games for the console.{{Cite web |last=Herkewitz |first=William |date=2020-05-03 |title=Cracking the Chip: How Hacking the NES Made It Even Better |url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/gaming/a32152013/nes10-chip-nintendo/ |access-date=2022-05-30 |website=Popular Mechanics |language=en-US}} The presence of the chip forced unlicensed companies to raise the price of each cartridge (due to a bypass chip having to be added to the cartridge), and allowed Nintendo a foothold for a lawsuit.

Lockout functions are commonly used in printers to prevent the use of third-party ink or toner cartridges.{{Cite web |date=2022-01-10 |title=Printer Cartridge Debacle Forces Canon to Tell Users How to Break DRM |url=https://gizmodo.com/printer-cartridge-debacle-forces-canon-to-tell-customer-1848332901 |access-date=2022-05-30 |website=Gizmodo |language=en-us}}