Let's get back to the original subject...

Anybody know where I can get service documentation on the Olympus C-700
digital camera? Olympus does not supply this to the general public OR
service techs.

I'd try 2 things:

(1) www.zuiko.com, www.olympusguy.com, and some other well-known Olympus
experts on the Web;

(2) posting a thread titled "Olympus C-700 Service Manual Wanted" and not
trying to use the long-defunct groups "news.electronics" and
"news.electronics.repair," which are still in the list of newsgroups for
this thread and are limiting its distribution.

The reason this thread turned into a general discussion of industry
practices is that that's how it's titled.