Submit a petition to the authorities claiming that anyone should be able to repair McDonald's ice cream machine that iFixit breaks soon
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At McDonald's in the United States, ice cream is so popular that it accounts for 60% of sales in the sweets category, but it is said that when visiting a store, it is often said that ``I can not offer it due to the failure of the ice cream machine''. He claimed that McDonald's ice cream machine should be repaired more easily, and clarified that he is proceeding with legal procedures.
What's Inside That McDonald's Ice Cream Machine? Broken Copyright Law | iFixit News
https://www.ifixit.com/News/80215/whats-inside-that-mcdonalds-ice-cream-machine-broken-copyright-law
Public Knowledge Petitions Copyright Office for DMCA Exemption for Ice Cream Machines - Public Knowledge
https://publicknowledge.org/public-knowledge-petitions-copyright-office-for-dmca-exemption-for-ice-cream-machines/
The phenomenon that McDonald's ice cream machines frequently break is not an urban legend but a real story, and a web service that can check in real time whether the ice cream machine is broken for each store has appeared, and the Federal Trade Commission of the United States It has also been reported that the association has embarked on an investigation.
Is the Federal Trade Commission investigating ``why McDonald's ice cream machines frequently break''-GIGAZINE
by Mike Mozart
iFixit actually purchased an ice cream machine used at McDonald's stores and checked the inside with the following movie.
Why McDonald's Ice Cream Machines Are Always Broken and How To Fix Them-YouTube
The ice cream machine in question is a C709 Soft Serve Freezer from a manufacturer called Taylor.
The big problem with this ice cream machine is that it requires a four-hour warm-up before it can be up and running. Moreover, it seems that errors occurred frequently in the last 4 hours, but even if you look at the manual, the type of error and how to deal with it are not described at all, and you have no idea what kind of error is occurring.
When I opened the ice cream machine and looked inside, it consisted of several printed circuit boards and easily replaceable parts such as motors, belts and heat exchangers.
However, due to a contract with McDonald's, franchise owners can only fix their ice cream machines at Taylor's Repair Service. According to iFixit, Taylor earns 25% of the profit from repair services and charges a fee of $ 350 (about 51,000 yen) per 15 minutes of service.
In the past, a company called Kytch has developed a Raspberry Pi-based device that reads errors in Taylor's ice cream machine, but according to iFixit, McDonald's has told franchise owners to 'never use Kytch's device'. He was sending instructions.
``We would like to create a device that reads the error codes of this ice cream machine, as Kytch was developing, but the law makes that impossible,'' said Elizabeth Chamberlain, director of sustainability at iFixit. said.
According to Chamberlain, Article 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) stipulates that ``the digital lock of copyrighted works such as device software must not be bypassed''. Although this Section 1201 exemption process exists, it is limited to consumer devices and cannot be applied to commercial ice cream machines.
iFixit and the nonprofit Public Knowledge have filed a petition with the Copyright Office arguing that circumventing digital security measures in commercial equipment such as Taylor's ice cream machine is not illegal. In addition to ice cream machines, the petition also mentions building management systems.
Petition for New Exemptions Under 17 USC § 1201
(PDF file) https://publicknowledge.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Public-Knowledge_iFixit_Petition-for-New-Exemption-Under-17-USC-1201-Commercial-Device-Repair.pdf
However, according to iFixit, even if the copyright office accepts the petition, hacking is only possible for individual ice cream machine owners, and iFixit distributes hacking tools for repairing ice cream machines. It is said that it cannot be done. Therefore, in order to secure the right to repair by amending Article 1201 of the DMCA, iFixit legitimizes the repair of all electronic equipment regardless of whether it is for consumer or commercial use 'The Freedom to Repair Act )” is asking Congress to reconsider.
'As a general rule, copyright should not prevent you from repairing a device you own, whether that device is for consumer or professional use,' said Kathleen Park, policy adviser at Public Knowledge. The fact that it's not permanently embedded in , is a sign that our copyright system is as fragile as a McDonald's ice cream machine.'
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