Federal Agencies Grow Frustrated with Persistent Malfunctions of McDonald's Ice Cream Dispensers
Rantingaboutmcdonaldsandrightstorepair:
Fed-Up Fed Regulators Want to Fix Your Broken McFlurry Dreams
Hey folks! Guess who's stirring up a storm again? That's right, our beloved feds! This time, they've got their sights set on those blasted, busted-ass McDonald's ice cream machines. Seems like they're tired of those broken buckets denying us our beloved McFlurries.
In a joint letter to the US Copyright Office, our regulatory homeslice, the DOJ and FTC, have asked for commercial soft-serve machines to be exempt from current laws that make them a real pain in the butt to repair. According to their view, this would foster competition in the markets for replacement parts, repair, and maintenance services, and help you grab that McFlurry on-the-go.
Leaving Us Hungry and Frustrated
Ever wondered why your McDonald's eatery seems to run out of McFlurries more often than not? Blame it on copyright law, you hear! Only technicians licensed by the company that manufactures the device are allowed to poke and prod those machines, and they demand a whopping $300 for a mere 15-minute servicing. Talk about milkshake extremism!
The broken ice cream machines are more than just a buzzkill for customers; they're a headache for McDonald's too. A soft-serve equipment breakdown can cost a single restaurant a whopping $625 per day! And, because of the paucity of licensed repair technicians, it often leads to an uncomfortably long wait time to get those machines up and running.
Game Over, Kytch
McDonald's buys their ice cream machines from Taylor, the restaurant equipment manufacturer, and only Taylor is allowed to fix them, thanks to copyright law. When one of Taylor's machines conks out, it'll spit out some nonsensical error messages to prevent johnny-come-latelies from meddling. But a clever repair company, Kytch, figured out a way to decode those messages, and McDonald's promptly instructed their stores to stop using Kytch's services. Isn't that romantic?
Right-to-Repair: A Movement United
It's no surprise that McDonald's ice cream machines have become the mascots of the right-to-repair movement. The common thread in these right-to-repair disasters, such as John Deere's overpriced tractors, Polish train scandals, or the McIceCream Debacle, is large manufacturers exercising their copyright law privileges to dominate markets, leaving small businesses and us, the consumers, exasperated. But this might be changing! Regulators seem to be finally paying attention to these age-old issues.
And Now for a Bonus Round of Tech Troubles
Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, it seems like McDonald's restaurants around the globe are experiencing an outage, leading to closures and grumbling stomachs everywhere[6]. So, if you haven't had your McFix yet, you're not alone! Misery loves company, right?
Sources:
[1] Federal Trade Commission. (2023). Repair Basics for Consumers.[ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/media-resources/roles-and-responsibilities/repair-basics-consumers[2] Consumer Reports. (2023). Why are my McDonald's ice cream machine always broken?[ONLINE] Available at: https://www.consumerreports.org/food-safety/why-are-my-mcdonalds-ice-cream-machines-always-broken-a1893621278/[3] Electronic Frontier Foundation. (2023). McDonald's broken ice cream machines could soon be a problem for the company, not you.[ONLINE] Available at: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/mcdonalds-broken-ice-cream-machines-could-soon-be-problem-company-not-you[4] New America. (2023). The Biden administration's right-to-repair executive order and what it means for consumers.[ONLINE] Available at: https://www.newamerica.org/tech-innovation/reflections/biden-administrations-right-to-repair-executive-order-and-what-it-means-for-consumers/[5] Brookings Institution. (2023). Balancing right-to-repair with safety and intellectual property concerns.[ONLINE] Available at: https://www.brookings.edu/research/balancing-right-to-repair-with-safety-and-intellectual-property-concerns/[6] Time. (2023). Many McDonald's restaurants are having major technical issues, leading to closures around the world.[ONLINE] Available at: https://time.com/6347688/mcdonalds-outage/
- The right-to-repair movement, sparked by issues such as the McIceCream Debacle, aims to challenge large manufacturers like McDonald's that exercise copyright law privileges to monopolize markets, causing frustration among consumers and small businesses.
- The joint letter from the DOJ and FTC to the US Copyright Office seeks to exempt commercial soft-serve machines from current laws, potentially increasing competition in the markets for replacement parts, repair, and maintenance services, benefiting both consumers and businesses.
- The game-changing technology, Kytch, found a way to decode error messages produced by McDonald's ice cream machines, but the company swiftly instructed its stores to cease using Kytch's services, highlighting the challenges faced by independent repair firms in the tech industry.
- In a related development, McDonald's restaurants worldwide have been experiencing a significant technical outage, causing closures and adding to the public's woes related to the reliability of technology-dependent businesses, adding another layer to the ongoing right-to-repair discourse.
