A long running dispute over the ability for McDonalds restaurants to repair their own ice cream machines got good news this week. For a long time, it’s been held that bypassing the locking mechanisms that prevented repair was illegal, based on the DMCA, a copyright act. iFixIt and a few other folks got together to pursue an exemption for retail-level and industrial equipment. The ramifications are beyond that of the ice cream machines, and cover a number of other devices. This sets a new standard that may continue to enable more people to repair hardware without fear of retribution, as has been the case in the McDonalds situation.
Soft-serve machines get a not-quite-parfait exemption to DMCA circumvention rule.
Found at arstechnica.com
