This is some GREAT news! We don't want anything locked
You say this now until we're all paying 14.99/MO for insurance because of the amount of phones being sent back because new users that have no idea what they're doing. I could see possible repercussions to completely unlocking bootloaders for all handsets.
Sigh, this would not be an issue if the phones came with root. I've said it a thousand times, android shipping without root is like windows shipping without an administrator account.
As for the tethering argument, it's 100% horse ****. Broadband companies tried to do the exact same thing when people hooked up routers to bypass the ridiculous fee they were charged to add a second computer to your internet connection.
This is exactly why the AT&T t-mobile merger needs to be denied. Without any competition, they charge whatever the hell they want to allow you to tether, because you have no where else to go. Duopolies FTL.