US government agencies demand fixable ice cream machines

US government agencies demand fixable ice cream machines

8 months ago
Anonymous $6hYC3Wwiad

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/03/ftc-and-doj-want-to-free-mcdonalds-ice-cream-machines-from-dmca-repair-rules/

Many devices have been made difficult or financially nonviable to repair, whether by design or because of a lack of parts, manuals, or specialty tools. Machines that make ice cream, however, seem to have a special place in the hearts of lawmakers. Those machines are often broken and locked down for only the most profitable repairs.

The Federal Trade Commission and the antitrust division of the Department of Justice have asked the US Copyright Office (PDF) to exempt "commercial soft serve machines" from the anti-circumvention rules of Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The governing bodies also submitted proprietary diagnostic kits, programmable logic controllers, and enterprise IT devices for DMCA exemptions.