The issue I have is that we've yet to see whether the tethering/WiFi hotspot features will actually be allowed by the carriers (for free). Sprint has already announced plans that WiFi hotspot service will be $30/mo with their Android 2.1 EVO. It is unreasonable to believe that Sprint is going to let Android 2.2 devices tether for free and charge $30/mo for older devices. In the end, this feature will likely end up similar to iPhone tethering. If you're willing to "jailbrake" the phone, it's there. Of course, it's likely that carriers will be able to detect tethering (it really shouldn't be too hard) and call up the user to tell them that they have to stop or a $XX charge will be added to their account monthly for tethering usage. They might even add the charge without alerting the user - how many people who don't have a data plan get charged without being alerted when they accidentally hit the web button on their phone? I don't think it's wholly unreasonable to believe that carriers might do the same for tethering.

As much as we'd all like to think that Google's in the driver's seat fighting for users rights when Apple won't stand up for them, it's still the networks who are the gatekeepers. Froyo has the technological capability to do tethering/hotspot service. It's a great capability to add and it's great that Google has done so. That doesn't mean it's going to be free.