You're correct there. The problem is that technology can't think in shades of gray. A TPM can only have an incredibly one dimensional view. Take your own exa

You're correct there. The problem is that technology can't think in shades of gray. A TPM can only have an incredibly one dimensional view. Take your own example of "owner" as in "rightfully, legally". There can be a huge difference between rightfully and legally. Think about all the things western nations took away legally from 'their' colonies. Or the completely legal civil forfeiture procedures in the US. Plenty of multidimensional trouble just by putting the word rightful after legal. I want to actually own my hardware, hack mu hardware, and I would love to see things like TPMs and DRM and locked phones banished from this planet, even if this encourages some people to steal hardware. But plenty of corporations love bitlocker and love to trade away the useless hackability of hardware. And after talking for a few scary minutes with a movie exec, I got the impression they see computers as nothing more but theft machines and the current copyright enforcement mechanisms as way to inadequate.