Spot on. There's no other reason for a NYT op-ed other than to send the message that: "Hey we're doing what you paid us to do; what do you want from us?!"
It's more cat and mouse, as complexity grows with computing power, there is a gap between the state of the art, and commodity systems that are sold for profit in global markets. Because UNIX works so close to the hardware, it is especially prone to novel methods of attack if left unattended.
You do have to keep in mind what the Samwer brothers are doing is executing a fairly well known business strategy, taught in all introductory management courses. They are essentially letting others (Pinterest in this case) find the product-market-fit, then they launch their own version in other respective markets. Say what you want, but don't blame them, thank the education system.
Huge play if they pull this off. This could really set the stage for increased leverage as we move into 2012. There must be a show of strength that strikes at the core of the D.C. machine. This isn't just over people downloading Ashton Kutcher movies, this is about taking down startups that are in direct competition with the distribution players, this is about going for the juglar and using Congress to pick winners. Google, Facebook, Ebay, Twitter, Paypal, Wikipedia and everyone else needs to step their game up; this is going to be a long haul.
Perhaps, I do like the quote at the end though about Javascript:
"To make a music analogy, JavaScript is a band that becomes famous for cheesy pop songs, and only later earns indie cred as discerning fans discover the cutting edge artist underneath the cheesy pop exterior."
This is wrong. Business people are trained to drive efficiencies within mature markets and established models. Founders are about discovering markets, which means adapting at light speed to new contingencies, knowing the code front and back, and being able to learn fast. If you're an MBA, by all means jump into the commanding heights and do your thing, but otherwise, hackers have to be the core.