Put it another way: What if your car could only drive certain places, at the whim of your car manufacturer? One day you try to drive someplace new and your car halts, telling you, "sorry, you cannot drive here because our ransom was not paid for this location". This is how I feel as an iOS user.
Soon the fanatics will show up in Apple's defense, claiming the App Store is the most secure yadda, yadda.. Sure it is the most secure and well-vetted app store OUT OF TWO. They block other app stores who could provide better app review, more security, and alternate trust for the users. You just need a scary warning confirmation screen every time you add a new app store, explaining that the trust is being delegated from Cupertino.
Of course, Apple will not cede the App throne willingly. This needs to be regulated by the US government. Let me just phone my local congressperson and I'm sure this will be fixed in short order.. oh wait, back to my pit of despair.