Digital Millennium Copyright Act
Here's What Happened:
The Digital Millennial Copyright Act (DMCA) prohibits circumventing encryption that protects copyrighted works. This rule applies to the software embedded in retail restaurant equipment such as ovens, freezers and the machine that McDonalds uses to make McFlurrys. In the realm of unintended consequences, repairs require access to the software that runs the machine. Non-circumvention prohibited a repairman from accessing the machine's software unless they were privy to a long and complicated encryption code. The encryption code is often hard to find. Manuals go outdated. Tracking down a person who knows the code can be time consuming and fruitless. Meanwhile, the restaurant has to turn away customers and wait until someone can crack the code and risk an infringement action under the DMCA.
A consumer advocate group lobbied the Copyright Office to "grant an exemption specifically allowing for repair of retail-level food preparation equipment—including soft serve ice cream machines similar to those available at McDonald's." Their wish was granted. A repairman can now access the software in the McFlurry machine, and other machines with embedded software without fearing a claim of copyright infringement.
The new rule covers only retail level equipment. The exemption does not include commercial and industrial food preparation devices.
WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS: This story is an example of the effectiveness of consumer advocacy and a reasonable response from the government. However, the exemption is limited and should not be interpreted to apply to all machinery software.
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