At a price that's meaningless to a hobbyist and steep for an independent shop, sure.

I agree, they're pricey for hobbyists, and I can't speak for all but the I work with is well priced for independent shops. This is not exclusive to automotive though, professional tools in most industries are not priced for hobbyists -- it's easy to lose money on enterprise software if it's priced for hobbyists.

Also, the actual implementation of these rules has been stalled for years by Alliance for Automotive Innovation v. Healy.

You're thinking about the newer "expanded rights" law. I'm talking about the original 2012 law that the newer law is trying to expand upon:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Massachusetts_Question_1