>>>.NET doesn't force anything TODAY. But you have to look at what .NET is, and where it's moving, and what its design philosophy is, and what Microsoft is moving toward with everything they have. It's nothing short of the migration of all data storage and processing to some remote device under someone else's control, and there's enough evidence that these data sources are being mined and used. And if not today, then that is the goal for tomorrow. These migrations take time to be accepted and implemented.
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>>If you were referring the the amount of personal information garnered by Google or numerous 'social-networking' sites then I might share you concerns. But I am constantly looking at "what .NET is, and where it's moving, and what its design philosophy is" and see nothing to warrant your assertion.
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>I think it is fair to say that Ado.Net datatables were more targeted for ASP/CS type of setup than physically linked boxes.

I'd disagree. While DataSets/DataTables gave an OO look to SQL results they were far too bulky and inconvenient to push around on wires.

>I don't think that MS is able to plan that far ahead to ascribe that to any motivation for "evil",
>but I think we can agree that existing technology will be used for "evil" as well ;-)

I guess any technology can be used for 'evil'. Ditto for 'good'