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‘Free the McFlurry’: The McDonald’s Machines Can Now Be Fixed Quickly, Thanks to Government Ruling

Once prone to outages, the McFlurry machines now have new hope.

McFlurry desserts can prove elusive.
McFlurry desserts can prove elusive. | Will Watts/Correspondent, Marco Eagle via Imagn Content Services, LLC

There’s one thing more vexing to McDonald’s customers than long drive-thru times and getting the wrong order: a busted McFlurry machine. The reasons behind the appliance’s seemingly near-constant breakdowns are complex, but one source of trouble may have been solved for good. This week, a government agency ruled that the dairy treat dispensers can be repaired in a timely fashion.

McFlurry machines churn out the frozen dessert by mixing soft-serve with a variety of toppings. When these units malfunctioned, franchisees would normally have to wait for the manufacturer, Taylor, to service them—a process some alleged could take up to 90 days. The company holds a copyright on the machine as well as exclusivity when it comes to repairing them thanks to a “lockout” chip that discourages third-party intervention. The system is not unlike that of tech giant Apple, which discouraged third-party repair until recently.

Independent repair advocates iFixIt and Public Knowledge recently petitioned the United States Copyright Office to have the digital lockout removed. The USCO has jurisdiction on the matter owing to that digital lock. Per the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, it’s illegal for someone to attempt to bypass a lock on a copyrighted entity.

The USCO sided with the non-profit public interest group and the DIY repair site on October 25. The ruling covers “retail-level food preparation equipment—including soft serve ice cream machines similar to those available at McDonald’s.”

The move follows years of maneuvering and a surprising amount of intrigue relative to a frozen dairy treat. In 2021, the Federal Trade Commission opened an investigation into why the machines broke down so often; at the same time, a company named Kytch, which developed technology to help diagnose and repair the problems, clashed with Taylor over their proprietary repair claims. Kytch then filed a lawsuit against McDonald’s for $900 million, alleging the company made false claims about Kytch possibly damaging the machines. (Settlement talks are ongoing.)

So does this mean your McFlurry order will sail through unencumbered? Not necessarily. For one thing, the McDonald’s location experiencing a failure will still need to seek repair. For another, malfunctioning isn’t the only cause of McFlurry outages. The machines require a lengthy disinfecting process that usually prompts partial disassembly, which can take hours. There’s always the apple pie.

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