Mcdonald's Ice Cream and the DMCA

McDonald's ice cream machines are infamous for being out-of-order. This is thanks to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) which prevents anyone except the original manufacturer from servicing it. However, ice cream lovers can rejoice since the US Copyright Office recently issued a new ruling that amends the DMCA and creates an exception for “retail-level commercial food preparation equipment." Theoretically, this means McDonald's will now be able to service these machines themselves and reduce the average down times. 

The DMCA is an interesting example of government capture. The legislation was largely spearheaded by the filmmaking industry that was concerned about copyright protection in the new digital age. The lobbying efforts by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) pushed for legal protections against illegal access, duplication, reproduction, and distribution of copyrighted property. These protections ultimately served to protect their own profits and market dominance. However, these DMCA protections come a direct cost to consumers who are restricted from utilizing the property in any way they desire or even repair the electronics that they purchase. The DMCA is the reason why the Right to Repair coalition exists. Household appliance, smartphone, and farm equipment companies utilize the protections from the DMCA to make it extremely difficult to source the tools, parts, and manuals a consumer needs to conduct a repair. Consumers ultimately have to spend more money on outrageously over-priced repair services from the manufacturer or buy a new device altogether.