Android phones are usable without a Google account. You need one in order to log in to Android Market, and obviously the GMail app and contacts sync won't work,

Android phones are usable without a Google account. You need one in order to log in to Android Market, and obviously the GMail app and contacts sync won't work, but the OS can still be used. Cyanogen, for IP reasons, even goes so far as to package all the Google-dependent stuff in a separate firmware image.