McDonald’s
always-broken
ice
cream
machines
might
finally
get
easier
to
fix.
That’s
because
the
US
Copyright
Office
granted
an
exemption
allowing
third
parties
to
diagnose
and
repair
commercial
equipment
—
including
the
ones
that
make
your
McFlurries.
Now,
franchise
owners
will
be
able
to
break
through
the
digital
locks
that
have
blocked
them
from
repairing
McDonald’s
ice
cream
machines
for
years.
According
to
the
Copyright
Office,
the
exemption
will
allow
people
to
diagnose,
perform
maintenance,
and
repair
“retail-level
commercial
food
preparation
equipment.”
McDonald’s
ice
cream
machines
have
become
so
notorious
for
breaking
that
someone
even
created
a
tool
to
track
broken
machines.
The
decision
is
part
of
the
Copyright
Office’s
final
rule
granting
exemptions
to
Section
1201
of
the
Digital
Millennium
Copyright
Act
(DMCA).
This
exemption-making
process
happens
every
three
years
and
is
supposed
to
ensure
that
the
DMCA
doesn’t
negatively
impact
people
trying
to
use
copyrighted
material.
If
you’re
wondering
what
copyright
law
has
to
do
with
McDonald’s
ice
cream
machines,
it’s
because
the
law
prevents
anyone
other
than
the
manufacturer,
Taylor,
from
bypassing
its
software
locks.
After
performing
a
teardown
of
the
machine
last
year,
iFixit
teamed
up
with
Public
Knowledge
to
file
for
an
exemption,
which
the
Federal
Trade
Commission
and
Department
of
Justice
supported.
The
Copyright
Office’s
decision
doesn’t
fully
cover
Public
Knowledge
and
iFixit’s
request
for
an
exemption
covering
a
wider
range
of
commercial
and
industrial
equipment,
but
at
least
it
will
address
McDonald’s
faulty
ice
cream
machines.
“There’s
nothing
vanilla
about
this
victory;
an
exemption
for
retail-level
commercial
food
preparation
equipment
will
spark
a
flurry
of
third-party
repair
activity
and
enable
businesses
to
better
serve
their
customer,”
Meredith
Rose,
Public
Knowledge’s
senior
policy
counsel,
said
in
a
press
release.
The
new
exemption
will
officially
go
into
effect
on
October
28th
and
might
offer
some
peace
of
mind
the
next
time
you’re
waiting
to
order
a
McFlurry
at
a
McDonald’s
drive-thru.
(Originally posted by Emma Roth)
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