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McDonald's Ice Cream Machines Are Always Broken and Now the Feds Are Involved

posted by janrinok on Wednesday July 03 2024, @11:59PM   Printer-friendly

owl writes:

https://qz.com/mcdonalds-broken-ice-cream-machines-federal-regulators-1851339089

Federal regulators want to fix McDonald's broken ice cream machines, and they're asking to expand right-to-repair laws to address the issue. In a letter to the U.S. Copyright Office on Thursday, regulators asked for commercial soft-serve machines to be exempt from current laws making them difficult to repair. The laws also make it more difficult for you to get a McFlurry.

"In the Agencies' view, renewing and expanding repair-related exemptions would promote competition in markets for replacement parts, repair, and maintenance services," said the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission in a joint letter.

The McDonald's broken ice cream machines have found themselves at the center of the right-to-repair movement. The reason McDonald's ice cream machines are always down is because of copyright law. Only technicians licensed by the company that made the device are allowed to touch the machines, and they charge over $300 for a 15-minute servicing, according to the letter. The DOJ and the FTC identified commercial soft-serve machines as one of four device categories that would benefit from an easing of copyright laws.

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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Captival on Thursday July 04 2024, @07:18AM (3 children)

    by Captival (6866) on Thursday July 04 2024, @07:18AM (#1363035)

    I've heard about this problem for years now. Why don't they just start switching machines to somebody else? They're one of the biggest chains on the planet, somebody has to be willing to work a deal for their business.

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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by mhajicek on Thursday July 04 2024, @09:23AM (1 child)

    by mhajicek (51) on Thursday July 04 2024, @09:23AM (#1363044)

    There's a whole mess with the contractually obligate "repair" company paying kickbacks to McD's corporate.

    --
    The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek

  • (Score: 2) by ChrisMaple on Friday July 05 2024, @12:46AM

    by ChrisMaple (6964) on Friday July 05 2024, @12:46AM (#1363121)

    IIRC, other companies don't have a problem with these machines. MacDonalds has a problem because it insists on using the machine differently, having to do with different sanitation procedures if the machines run uninterrupted 24 hours a day. Other companies clean the machine when the restaurant is closed, and they do it every day: no problem. MacDonalds has screwed itself.