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DRM Technology

US Copyright Office Grants DMCA Exemption For Ice Cream Machines (extremetech.com) 39

Posted by BeauHD from the nothing-vanilla-about-this-victory dept.
The Librarian of Congress has granted a DMCA exemption allowing independent repair of soft-serve machines, addressing the persistent issue of restricted repairs on McDonald's frequently malfunctioning machines. ExtremeTech reports: Section 1201 of the DMCA makes it illegal to bypass a digital lock protecting copyrighted work. That can be the DRM on a video file you download from iTunes, the carrier locks that prevent you from using a phone on other networks, or even the software running a McDonald's soft serve machine that refuses to accept third-party repairs. By locking down a product with DRM, companies can dictate when and how items are repaired under threat of legal consequences. This is an ongoing issue for people who want to fix all those busted ice cream machines.

Earlier this year, iFixit and Public Knowledge submitted their request for an exemption that would have covered a wide swath of industrial equipment. The request included everything from building management software to the aforementioned ice cream machines. Unfortunately, the Copyright Office was unconvinced on some of these points. However, the Librarian of Congress must be just as sick as the rest of us to hear the ice cream machine is broken. The office granted an exception for "retail-level food preparation equipment."

That means restaurant owners and independent repair professionals will be able to bypass the software locks that keep kitchen machinery offline until the "right" repair services get involved. This should lower prices and speed up repairs in such situations. Public Knowledge and iFixit express disappointment that the wider expansion was not granted, but they're still celebrating with some delicious puns (and probably ice cream). "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 customers," said Meredith Rose, Senior Policy Counsel at Public Knowledge.

US Copyright Office Grants DMCA Exemption For Ice Cream Machines More | Reply

US Copyright Office Grants DMCA Exemption For Ice Cream Machines

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  • OK, cool, but what about the John Deere tractors?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by lsllll ( 830002 )

      Right? This goes right against the right-to-repair laws that are being passed in the country. Eventually the SCOTUS will have to step in to resolve conflicts between state right-to-repair laws and the Section 1201 of DMCA.

    • No ruling yet because it's not Deere season.

  • Good, but it won't actually fix anything (Score:3)

    by alvinrod ( 889928 ) on Friday October 25, 2024 @06:08PM (#64894697)
    This is good, but the ice cream machine will still be "broken" because employees already cleaned it earlier and don't want to have to again just so one person can have an ice cream.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by lsllll ( 830002 )

      A can completely relate to this. Forget about getting an ice cream cone from McDonald's after 8:00 PM. Never been able to do it, and that is the ONLY thing I'd go to a McDonald's for.

      • It's a hamburger restaurant, not an ice cream shop. People need to just take their business elsewhere.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mysidia ( 191772 )

        Just go elsewhere, and be sure to submit a complaint letter in writing to corporate HQ each time it happens.

      • So why the hell do you keep going to McDonald's after 8:00 p.m. for ice cream? Seriously just go at 7:30 p.m. how hard is this? Or just use Google to find a 24/7 McDonald's.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by mysidia ( 191772 )

          Not that it's the 24x7 that matters. Every machine has a time period where it will be down every day, so unless the location has two or more ice-cream machines that shutdown on a staggered schedule; there will be daily downtime probably at 8pm.

          That is the solution: Having multiple machines on a staggered shutdown schedule per location, instead of just one ice cream machine.

    • Unfortunately a recession might help this. I remember during the Great Recession our local mcd had employees that all seemed overqualified - intelligent, well-groomed millennials that seemed like likely college graduates. Then the job market came back and the quality of service at McD's plummeted while employee pay and prices shot up, as the overqualified former employees moved on to greater things. So, really, things going too well at McD is a pretty sure sign that the world at large is not going so wel

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mysidia ( 191772 )

      I'd say that is not how it works. The processes involved take so much time that they Can't get the machine back up in less than 4 hours after it shut itself down, and not even if they wanted.

      Their machines decides when it needs sanitization or cleaning, and when it's needed it shuts down and goes into a self-sanitization Heat cycle That applies high temperatures to all the product to Re-pasteurize all the dairy in the machine that requires 4 hours and cannot be interrupted. Then every 2 weeks there

      • I think it's very fitting that Taylor uses a very prominent crown as their logo. "Do what we command you to, or else!"

  • McDonald's in the news (Score:3)

    by kenh ( 9056 ) on Friday October 25, 2024 @06:25PM (#64894745) Homepage Journal

    What the hell is going on?

    Did Kamala work at McDonalds growing up?

    Trump did 15 minutes at a McDonalds Fry station and drive-thru window.

    Dozens of people are getting sick from tainted/questionable meat.

    And now we're talking about carving out an exception to the DCMA for Ice Cream machines in McDonalds?

    What's going on with McDonalds?

    • Welcome to the USA, home of the lowest common denominator.

    • Its cause LoC can do exceptions like this. They can't do anything about the FDA being underfunded, or the IRS not having enough people. They can rule on DMCA issues however. Especially how well documented this one is. I mean seriously, from GitHub repos, to multiple full on lawsuits. Then throw in money from McDonalds to get this issue though.

      I mean seriously, you buy one of these machines, your not even allowed to replace the electronics. Just saying "Ok lets just bypass all the electronics and jus

    • Did Kamala work at McDonalds growing up?

      Kamala Harris has said she worked at McDonalds in college. This has not been confirmed or denied by McDonald's.

      Trump did 15 minutes at a McDonalds Fry station and drive-thru window.

      And Trump in his pettiness is going for his "Nuh-uh. Liar!" moment by saying he "worked" at a McDonald's longer than she has. Mind you, Trump to this day refuses to admit Obama was born in the US. Also he refuses he was wrong about the Central Park Five [wikipedia.org] even after New York City vacated their convictions and settled lawsuits. Trump always tries to reverse Uno every time someone points out another o

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by schwit1 ( 797399 )

      You would think they were Boeing with all of the drama.

    • 1. Yes.

      2. Staged photo op because McDonald's wants more tax cuts.

      3. Trump deregulated and is letting meat packers do their own inspections, Biden tried to reverse the rule but got smacked down by a Trump judge.

      4. McDonald's Ice Cream repairs have been a hot topic on /. for years. We're nerds. We eat a lot of fast food.

  • I don't know what the contract between McDonalds and its franchisees says but I wouldn't be surprised if it said something to the effect of "you have to buy this specific machine and you have to get it repaired by Taylor and if you don't do that you will loose your franchise". Assuming it does, what the DMCA or copyright law says doesn't matter.

    • I don't know what the contract between McDonalds and its franchisees says but I wouldn't be surprised if it said something to the effect of "you have to buy this specific machine and you have to get it repaired by Taylor and if you don't do that you will loose your franchise".

      It does, in fact, say exactly that. That information - and a whole lot more - shows up in this interesting video on YouTube

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrDEtSlqJC4

      It's a half-hour of actual, honest-to-goodness investigative journalism. I watched it in its entirety once, and will be happy to watch it again - it's that good.

      • And Taylor either cannot reliably repair these machines, does not have the staff to respond in a timely manner, or is conspiring with McCopCo to ruin the ice cream product marketing.

        • Worse: it is strongly implied that McDonalds corp gets a cut of the service fees. So it is in their best interest for these machines to be broken as their franchisees would have to pay more in service costs. For some franchisees, it is easier to not fix the machine as the repair costs exceed potential sales.
          • This. I mean this sounds like a monopoly somewhere but not sure how you could break it. Maybe a law that says the vender cannot split service fees with a the franchise?

  • US Copyright Office Grants DMCA Exemption For Ice Cream Machines

    Literally the previous /. headline:

    Video Game Libraries Lose Legal Appeal To Emulate Physical Game Collections Online

    Goes to show who has lobbying money and who doesn't.

    Rob

  • 1) Farmer growing corn, wheat, et cetera, has John Deere equipment.

    2) Farmer sets up a small stand at the foot of their driveway "selling food directly to the public".

    3) Farmer can NOW claim that the JD tractor, combine, harvester, etc are all used to make food, some of which is sold directly through retail. Now the DMCA no longer applies to JD equipment as the exemption applies.

  • mcdonald's franchise rules will not allow them to be fixed by 3rd party repair.

    • They don't have to know about it, and now the reset devices are legal. The owners can reset them in the night or whatever.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mysidia ( 191772 )

      But now there's a DMCA exception, so the franchise owner could try to circumvent the rule.

      There'd be no way for the McD to know they had someone else modify or repair their machine and circumvent the programming. They can do it while shop is closed, so not even customers or employees would know.

      At least they wouldn't be breaking the law now.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

        But now there's a DMCA exception, so the franchise owner could try to circumvent the rule.

        They could, but is it worth it?

        Because violating the franchise contract could easily cause you to lose your franchise. As in McDonalds will just escort you off the property, close up for the day, and bring in another franchisee to run it. (The closing is because they technically have to fire everyone as their employer is changing). You lose your million dollar franchise fee, McD's likely will bar you from other restaur

  • https://www.404media.co/it-is-... [404media.co]

    From iFixit, "Here’s the catch: while it’s now legal to circumvent the digital locks on these machines, the ruling does not allow us to share or distribute the tools necessary to do so," he said. "This is a major limitation. Most franchise owners and independent repair shops won’t have the technical expertise to create their own unlocking tools from scratch, meaning that while the door to repair has been opened, few will be able to walk through it without s

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