[mschuster91]

> So even if a law about open hardware/firmware were to pass in the next few years, we would still need a huge reverse engineering effort to open up all the older devices.

Not necessarily. Impose a tax on all products where the manufacturers do not release all documentation even for past devices, that should serve as a pretty decent incentive.

Yes, legally it's a questionably grey area, but to be honest it's time to actually use our market power.