[balls187]

Requiring proprietary dongles/software to clear fault codes are not uncommon, but I'm surprised there hasn't been enough interest for there to be a 3rd party tool.

Like McDonald's Shake Machines had a 3rd party tool to help diagnose issues.

[bfdm]

There is interest, but thanks to DMCA 1201 they put a thin veneer of encryption on it and suddenly it's a felony to make/use that third party tool.

[ronsor]

We could, of course, repeal DMCA section 1201, but no one in government wants to do that.

[Terr_]

The difficulty of fighting against things which are concentrated benefits to a few, and diffuse harms to everyone else. :/

[crooked-v]

The McDonald's stuff in particular is a red herring. Their requirements are contract requirements, put in place after too many franchisees tarnished their name with listeria outbreaks.

[const_cast]

Right, but the solution shouldn't have been a racketeering scheme.

This is the risk of franchising in general. You lose a certain amount of control over quality and you put your brand at much greater risk. In exchange, you get to expand your brand much faster than if you did it under centralized control and investment.