Do not attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. I see no conspiracy here, just an OEM that doesn't get it.
Who is this Hanlon guy anyway.
The kids these days don't realise just how much of what's fucked up about PCs these days is directly Microsoft fuckery.
Groklaw's pages on the Comes case are a good start: http://www.groklaw.net/articlebasic.php?story=20070220083801...
Except where malice has previously been proven, in which case go wild.