Devil's advocate: what if locked-down devices can open up new businesses that would not exist otherwise? Say, free cell phones in the developing world which are forcibly tied to a particular carrier and ecosystem to make up the cost?

Ownership is a fuzzy concept, especially in the days of intellectual property. It's a mish-mash of natural law, social contract, precedent, and state violence. If I "own" an MP3, why can't I remix and share it? If I "own" a piece of software, how come I don't get its source code to alter as I wish?

We have a historical bias that customers own the atoms, but creators own the ideas. But this is an arbitrary line that culture invented as an economic compromise, not an intrinsic law of the universe.

Having said all that, I'd prefer our culture side more with consumer rights, even at the cost of closing business opportunities. I'd love it if Apple-style vendor lock-in was illegal, fair use was more rigorously defended, copyrights were shortened, etc. But in any case, we should take ownership of our cultural trade-offs, instead of assuming that our animal instincts regarding "property" are inherently correct.