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McDonald’s may finally have a fix for its broken ice cream machine epidemic

And we have the federal government to thank for it.

In July, McDonald’s USA told TODAY.com that sales data from the past few years has shown its ice cream machines are up and running around 95% of the time across the country, depending on location. Although the full request wasn’t granted, retail-level commercial food preparation equipment received an exemption that will allow third parties to bypass digital locks on machines for repairs. Meredith Rose, senior policy counsel at Public Knowledge, said that the Copyright Office’s decision will lead to an “overdue shake-up of the commercial food prep industry.”

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