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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.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by looorg on Thursday July 04 2024, @07:50AM (2 children)
I would have imagined that the federal issue was the false advertisement that they, McD, claim to have icecream. Which they never do since the machine is always "broken". Not a right to repair issue. As that machine seems to have some kind of congenital defect that makes it break down constantly. Clearly it's not a very complicated issue if it just takes about 15 minutes to fix. I guess the fix is just to replace one part over and over again or something. So it's not really fixing the problem, just pushing it further down the road. The machine appears to be broken by design.
It's somewhat odd that the other similar "restaurants" can keep serving icecream and such all the time, I guess they just bought better machines. Cause it's always only, or mainly, a McD problem.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 04 2024, @08:57AM
If you do some research there is some shifty business involved. Some of the C-class at mickys head office have some deep links into the rip-off company. The franchisees who have to foot the $1200/hr bill are required to use only those machines.
(Score: 4, Funny) by VLM on Thursday July 04 2024, @02:34PM
They haven't gotten busted yet for claiming to sell "food," so they probably feel safe.