This is a really good observation! Now that you point it out - it's very similar to what Microsoft has been doing with Windows for the past few years - pushing

This is a really good observation! Now that you point it out - it's very similar to what Microsoft has been doing with Windows for the past few years - pushing users harder and harder to create accounts in order to use Windows (by leveraging their monopoly). Hardware vs software, sure, but similar principle. Regulation is a sharp knife that is hard to wield properly, but we're well past the point of needing it here.