Didn't Facebook just get yelled at by everyone for having too much information available via the API? I don't think it's fair to be upset that they started to lock down their APIs after that issue.
Their response was more "oh you don't want your friends list to be public information? how about we shut down everything?"
Business tend to want the kind of information your comment's parent was bemoaning being siloed up broadly available. People tend not to want their personal details treated that way.
FB locking that info away isn't about protecting those businesses; it's about protecting their own position in the market.
EDIT: Explain to me, then, how Facebook "protecting" info businesses want widely disseminated is in anyone but Facebook's interest. If I have a coffee shop, and we're having an event, I don't just want FB users knowing about it, do I?
Treating this as a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" is disingenuously specious.
But Facebook wrapped that all up into a tidy APi. You can gather information about the world for a nominal amount. The Russians did it for a couple hundred grand.
It’s not about what the Facebook API serves, but about the ease of use and scope of information. There’s a reason Google Maps delays satellite imagery by years, we need the same when it comes to other forms of global data.
If I want to take on the complexity of aggregating it, that's my choice. Facebook isn't doing me some kind of favor by "helping" me not fall down that rabbit-hole...
If you want to take on that complexity, go for it. Facebook was never trying to help you with that.