US Copyright Office Grants DMCA Exemption for Ice Cream Machines

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) has been a thorn in the side of DIY enthusiasts, security advocates, and content creators for decades, but the draconian law does have some useful provisions. For example, it’s rulemaking season, which empowers the Librarian of Congress to grant exceptions to the DMCA. Public Knowledge and iFixit have struck a blow for ice cream lovers this time around. Soft serve machines, like the ones that constantly break down at McDonald’s, are now exempt from the DMCA.

This is just one of the new rules put in place for the current 1201 review process. Every three years, the Copyright Office reviews requests for DMCA exemptions and grants the ones it believes will benefit Americans. But what could this possibly have to do with ice cream machines? The annoying truth is that businesses love Section 1201 of the DMCA.

Section 1201 of the DMCA makes it illegal to bypass a digital lock protecting copyrighted work. That can be the DRM on a video file you download from iTunes, the carrier locks that prevent you from using a phone on other networks, or even the software running a McDonald’s soft serve machine that refuses to accept third-party repairs. By locking down a product with DRM, companies can dictate when and how items are repaired under threat of legal consequences. This is an ongoing issue for people who want to fix all those busted ice cream machines.

Earlier this year, iFixit and Public Knowledge submitted their request for an exemption that would have covered a wide swath of industrial equipment. The request included everything from building management software to the aforementioned ice cream machines. Unfortunately, the Copyright Office was unconvinced on some of these points. However, the Librarian of Congress must be just as sick as the rest of us to hear the ice cream machine is broken. The office granted an exception for “retail-level food preparation equipment.”

That means restaurant owners and independent repair professionals will be able to bypass the software locks that keep kitchen machinery offline until the “right” repair services get involved. This should lower prices and speed up repairs in such situations. Public Knowledge and iFixit express disappointment that the wider expansion was not granted, but they’re still celebrating with some delicious puns (and probably ice cream).

“There’s nothing vanilla about this victory; an exemption for retail-level commercial food preparation equipment will spark a flurry of third-party repair activity and enable businesses to better serve their customers,” said Meredith Rose, Senior Policy Counsel at Public Knowledge.

Unfortunately, 1201 exemptions are not permanent. They’re only valid until the next rulemaking session in three years but can be extended if the conditions that prompted them are still present. So, advocates may have to go to bat again in a few years to keep the frosty treats coming.