Blame US congress critters with no technical knowlage for the fairly toothless 'right to repair laws' I doubt that more than one in a hundred have ever picked up a soldering iron! From the point of view of an EEE technician doing component level repair, we need to be able to buy any custom PCB mounted parts used (e.g control pots or encoders, and pre-programmed MCUs or programmable logic) from the OEM or an approved supplier, at a price that makes compontent level repair viable vs board swapping. A schematic is always nice to have but most of us are used to working without one.
Of course if the board swap is cheap enough - component level repair doesn't make any sense.
Yea, I am very used to working without schematics but only on items that are worth a good sum of money, Schematics and a BOM help reduce the diagnostics time significantly increasing likelihood of repairing lower value items within a reasonable amount of time.
Most right to repair laws have a fair and reasonable parts provision to prevent the $100 item $95.00 part lol. A Recent anti repair example, MFG That will be $85.00 for a $5.00 MCU but there is a $150 min order LOL! Can I get the firmware I can program the MCU "NO" that is Anti Repair.
California Fair and reasonable is below, seems to be the Model Legislation.
I spoke out against B and C requiring Manufactures to provide it at no cost maybe a reasonable charge $20 for schematics etc. But the people I spoke to knew all to well the MFG's would be charging outrageous subscriptions, or unreasonable amounts like the example above.
(4) “Fair and reasonable terms” means each of the following, as applicable:
(A) At costs and terms that are equivalent to the most favorable costs and terms under which the manufacturer offers the part, tool, or documentation to an authorized repair provider, accounting for any discount, rebate, convenient and timely means of delivery, means of enabling fully restored and updated functionality, rights of use, or other incentive or preference the manufacturer offers to an authorized repair provider.
(B) For documentation, including any relevant updates, that the documentation is made available at no charge, except that, when the documentation is requested in physical printed form, a charge may be included for the reasonable actual costs of preparing and sending the copy.
(C) For tools, that the tools are made available by the manufacturer at no charge and without imposing impediments to access or use of the tools to diagnose, maintain, or repair and enable full functionality of the product, or in a manner that impairs the efficient and cost-effective performance of any such diagnosis, maintenance, or repair, except that, when a tool is requested in physical form, a charge may be included for the reasonable, actual costs of preparing and sending the tool.
(D) If a manufacturer does not use an authorized repair provider, “fair and reasonable terms” means at a price that reflects the actual cost to the manufacturer to prepare and deliver the part, tool, or documentation, exclusive of any research and development costs incurred.