One of life’s great mysteries is that of the consistently broken McDonald’s ice cream machine. Now, a new copyright rule might offer some relief to those customers baffled by it all. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act serves as protection for the “code embedded in the ice cream machines.” Because of that legislation, it’s been “illegal for third parties, like McDonald’s employees or franchise operators, to break the digital locks installed by manufacturers.” Earlier this week, a new exemption was put into place that would “allow outside vendors to fix ‘retail-level commercial food preparation equipment’.” Included in that would be…McDonald’s ice cream machines. Only time will tell how much of a difference this will make in the McFlurry-loving world.
Source: NPR