E_K: but that's the point. It is in their best interests, when you really think about it, to perpetuate exactly what you describe -- doing otherwise would cost them marketshare that they cannot afford to give up. In short, it makes sense for that to hover over the community. It provides considerable leverage for a company seeking to create a large market for a new program. It doesn't even need to be used, that leverage. It just need to sit there.

thou and I, my friend, can, in the most flunkey world, make, each of us, one non-flunkey, one hero, if we like: that will be two heroes to begin with. (Carlyle)