The United States is asking to allow self-repair of McDonald’s ice cream machines that constantly break down

In the United States, they are finally trying to resolve the issue of self-repair of McDonald’s ice cream machines. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice have joined the problem, The Verge reports.

As you know, McDonald’s ice cream machines are well known for their frequent breakdowns. But the problem is that only Taylor, the company that manufactures these machines, is allowed to repair them.

The problem is so well known that there are many memes about it on the web. Kytch, a company that created a special product for reading error codes of ice cream machines, tried to fix the situation with self-repair of machines at one time. However, McDonald’s sent a letter to franchise owners and informed them that they could not use this device.

Last summer, iFixit and the nonprofit organization Public Knowledge took up the cause. They filed a petition asking to finally allow self-repair of McDonald’s ice cream machines.

Now, the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice have asked the US Copyright Office to expand the list of exceptions to the copyright law regarding the right to repair certain devices.

We are talking about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which prohibits software copyright infringement. It contains Article 1201, according to which unauthorized repair of devices can lead to copyright infringement.

Exceptions to this section are reviewed every three years. So now they are asking to add the possibility of self-repair of commercial and industrial equipment to their number.

The initiators believe that, among other things, this will promote competition in the field of repair and maintenance services.