That said, it seems odd that silliness like this still exists.

It's only going to get worse. I don't think it's gonna take too long for corporations and governments to mandate locked down computers for everyone. Soon all software will require attestation against "tampering". Copyright industry wants this because "piracy". Banks wants this because "fraud". Messaging services want this because "terms of service". Maybe one day even ISPs will refuse to allow user controlled computers on their networks. Who knows what they could do, right? They might be a terrorist or pedophile running Tor and encrypting everything.