McDonald's and other restaurants can now fix broken ice cream machines, as a U.S. court granted them the 'right to repair' on October 25, 2024.
The ruling came from the U.S. Copyright Office and granted an exemption from copyright infringement to restaurants attempting to bypass digital locks on broken machines. Readers must note that the manufacturers put the locks in place, and the ice cream machines must be bypassed to fix them.
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In McDonald's case, Rockton-based Taylor Company manufactured the ice cream machines and owned the rights to fix them. However, with the 'right to repair' in effect since October 28, McD's can now leverage the services of third parties instead of waiting for Taylor to fix their machines.
Exploring McDonald's broken ice cream machine problem and how the 'right to repair' could help the issue
McDonald's restaurants across the United States have always been scoured upon regarding ice cream machines. The chain reportedly uses the C602 digital ice cream machines to make McFlurries, soft serve cones, shakes, and sundaes.
However, tens and hundreds of U.S. customers take to social media every month to express disappointment after failing to get their favorite desserts because of broken machines. The problem has been so evidently accepted that a software engineering student, Rashiq Zahid, launched McBroken in October 2020.
As the name suggests, the website tracks restaurants with broken ice cream machines through real-time data generated by a bot. As of this writing, the tracker claims that over 14.72% of ice cream machines are broken at McDonald's restaurants nationwide, with at least 32% of them in New York.
McD's machines reportedly require 4-hour cycles for proper cleaning and may break down if they are not cleaned regularly. The complex machines are also not very opaque about failures and often require technicians to look them over to see if they need to be fixed.
The contract with Taylor previously required all McDonald's restaurants to call for authorized technicians from the manufacturer only. Apart from being expensive, the authorized technicians were reportedly delayed in their responses, making situations worse for the restaurants.
With the 'right to repair' in effect, McD's restaurant owners can now hire third-party ice cream machine repair companies like iFixIt to diagnose and repair their machines. Franchisee owners willing to go a step further can even employ exclusive technicians to keep the machines running.
As of the writing, McDonald's has yet to share an official comment about the 'right to repair.' If adopted on an establishment level, the ruling will solve the issue for customers and help franchisees cut off on repair fees for the machines.
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