No, this doesn't make sense, and the article contradicts itself. Assuming that a country-lock is possible, it wouldn't be any different than a company lock: if you use an unauthorized SIM, the phone won't work. The roaming BS is just that.

Here's the solution: unify the tech, diversify the service. Let everyone use the same radio gear regardless of the provider, and let competitors offer different service packages and a la carte deals over the same infrastructure. Simple!

Are you sure this isn't backwards? Wouldn't it make more sense for them to give away the GPRS data while locking you into a voice plan? It isn't like you can do VoIP over GPRS....

Ok, let's get this straight:

Skype: closed protocol, only can be used with Skype service
SIP: open, vendor independent, used by Asterisk, FWD, Vonage, VoicePulse, Packet8, etc.

Yes they may vendor-lock this device (just like what is done with cell phones) but I'd much rather see SIP hardware solutions than Skype specific ones.

The only good news about most of the "Skype" VoIP phones is that they are just dumb/semi dumb audio devices that can be used by any soft phone or chat technology.