ok, so here are arguments against doing so:
1. legality
2. quality
3. security

it is first time I hear that connecting to open network is illegal, care to provide link to laws that forbid that? so while #1 is highly doubtful it is also hardest to solve technically.

#2 makes a little sense to me - i'm regularily playing with my n810 while commuting and it is always able to find several open ap's with decent signal quality even from the street.

#3 is a serious issue but it doesn't matter whether we connect automatically or manually, risk is still the same. use of application level security is a must those days regardless of connection method.

so all in all pretty lame excuses for not doing great thing.