The real problem when you start putting big regulations in to 'protect' people is that all the things we do now become illegal.
I have an Inspiration in bits all over the bench at home with new cells, improved D-rings, changes to the harness and other mods all going in. If the dive police saw that I'd be marched off in irons - protective custody?
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I'm always worried by people who want to protect me. I used to race motorcycles and my club used to kill two people a year on average so shutting us down would have saved lives. Would that have been good? OK I'd like it if they hadn't died but we knew what we were getting into and we were allowed to make that choice. Diving is far far safer but unless we want to breed out the adventure gene and just be a nation of couch potatoes some personal risks must be legal.
I bought a commercial rebreather as a good starting point. I'd been modifying my OC gear for years and I never thought of it as a fixed entity. I'm glad I don't have to conform to some standards because I like to stay up to date on the ideas about and adopt those I feel are relevant to me. I don't have to wait until they are committeed into the spec and then get them like it or not.
As I have said elsewhere, if I get hauled out cold having won a Darwin it was my choice to go in the water that day and I chose the kit and, mostly, I maintain it or decide who does. There will be nobody to blame but me. You can't even blame my instructors as they've been good and if I ignored something they taught me I did know it and just decide that on that day it didn't apply to me.
Sorry it's a bit of a ramble. This whole business of regulation and approval bugs me. There are lots of things you shouldn't do if you don't understand the risks and understating the kit is part of understanding the risk.