By ChinRes 
Many consumers of fast food restaurants have expressed their dissatisfaction with the ice cream machines at McDonald’s. Due to the fact that they are out of operation so often, there is even a website that is devoted to monitoring locations that are able to offer you a McFlurry at any given moment. However, the government has now intervened in order to resolve the problem.
According to a report by the Verge, the United States Copyright Office has recently approved an exception that would enable third parties to diagnose and repair commercial food preparation equipment such as the ice cream machines used by McDonald’s. Due to the fact that copyright law has previously precluded anybody other than the maker of the McFlurry machines (Taylor) from gaining access to their software locks and changing them, this particular breakthrough is a significant occurrence.
To put it another way, it will now be simpler to repair and bring the McFlurry machines back to working condition if they have had a problem.
Because of this compelled dependence on the manufacturer, McDonald’s, its operators, and even the government of the United States of America have all come to a common point of conflict. In a joint document that was submitted earlier this year in favor of the exemption, the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice (DOJ) said that approved soft serve machine repairers often have lengthy wait periods, and that they charge “over $300 per fifteen minutes.” In the meanwhile, the filing said that restaurants might lose up to $625 in revenue every single day owing to the failure of soft serve equipment.
The exception has been granted, which means that McDonald’s operators will no longer be need to depend on Taylor in order to maintain their machines. Instead, they will be free to break past those locks and engage third parties to service their equipment. As of the 28th of October, the new regulation will officially go into effect, and it is hoped that it will result in repairs for the ice cream equipment that are both quicker and more economical.
Both the advocacy group Public Knowledge and the website iFixit, which provides repair manuals and materials, are to be credited for this adjustment. Fans of McDonald’s McFlurries and soft serve may thank both of these organizations for this improvement. The two organizations collaborated in order to submit an application for the exception, which received approval from both the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice.
Despite the fact that the United States Copyright Office did not give the whole spectrum of exclusions that the groups had asked for commercial and industrial equipment, Public Knowledge was nonetheless pleased with the exception that was granted for food preparation equipment.
Meredith Rose, senior policy counselor at Public Knowledge, said in a statement that “today’s recommendations are a win for everyone: franchise owners, independent repair shops, and anyone who is had to bribe their kids with a freezing treat on lengthy road trips.” Rose was referring to the fact that the proposals were issued today. The judgment that was made today by the Copyright Office will result in a much-needed shake-up of the commercial food preparation business.
“Securing a right to repair has been a long and difficult journey, and while there are plenty of dips and twists ahead, today’s decision will lead to an overdue shake-up of the industry.” An exception for retail-level commercial food preparation equipment will stimulate a flurry of third-party repair activity and allow companies to better serve their consumers. This win is everything but bland; it is a complete and utter triumph.
Several years prior to the approval of this exception, a firm known as Kytch made an effort to provide its own remedy to the issues that McDonald’s was experiencing with its broken ice cream machines. In order to monitor the inner workings of its ice cream machines and identify and resolve any operational difficulties that may arise, the firm developed a gadget that franchisees could include into their machines.
Nevertheless, in the year 2020, McDonald’s sent a warning to franchisees via email, advising them not to use the devices. The company said that the devices provide access to personal data and that they pose a danger to the safety of workers. After that, sales began to decline, as reported by Wired. Subsequently, Kytch filed a lawsuit against McDonald’s, alleging that the fast food chain had intentionally driven it out of the market and circulated false information on the safety of its product.