I've been watching this thread with some interest for several days now. A few thoughts occur to me.

First, Outlaw does not pick up a blank piece of paper, create a design, and build the design by themselves. They use processors and other components that are designed and manufactured by other companies (Cirrus, Analog Devices, etc). They use processing protocols that are regulated by their originators (Dolby Labs, DTS). In some cases (such as the Model 990), they use a basic design that was developed by another company (Etronics, in the case of the 990) and then modify it to suit their needs (software changes, additional features such as DVI switching). At each stage in that, limitations are imposed on what they can reveal to the consumer and on how much they can differ from the mandated requirements - specifically the Dolby and DTS processing requirements. Outlaw has to adhere to agreements made with folks like Etronics and Dolby. We are not talking about whether or not the hood of our car is welded shut, since it is really not an appropriate parallel either. We've gotten a lot of good information already - the RS-232 information has been handed out freely, which is not always the case (that information is often restricted to custom installers because the manufacturers don't want to customer support calls associated with the average consumer trying to use it).

I do think that it might be useful to have a supplement to the manual, possibly as an accompanyment to whatever software update they are looking into, with some "advanced user" tidbits (signal path diagrams, bass management behavior description, and so forth). I don't think it is reasonable to ask them to open the books on the inner workings of the design to the point where we can start hacking the software to the degree that has been kicked around in this thread. Software is a huge part of how one of these units works, and opening it up to be "hacked" would be very close to the same thing as Ford handing us the design documents on their engine and powertrain. That's why you don't see Anthem or Sunfire or Lexicon letting us know how to make changes to the software on their processors. That's also why we don't have - and presumably won't have - the sort of architectural diagrams and software information on the 990.