iPhone will require iTunes account

Now, it almost seems that most news in the Tech World relates to the impending launch of the iPhone on the 29th. Well, Apple came out with another bit of news. Customers wanting to purchase the iPhone need to have a iTunes Store account before activating the iPhone. Customers in the US can only get the iPhone via the deal with AT & T, but just buying a contract with AT & T Wireless Services is not enough, customers need to have a iTunes account as per this report:

Consumers planning to buy the iPhone when it goes on sale in the U.S. later this month will need to have an iTunes Store account before they can activate the device, according to information on Apple's Web site.
The move will allow Apple to create its own billing relationship with iPhone customers, rather than collecting payments for any iTunes purchases they make via the mobile operator.
Mobile handset vendors, such as Nokia and Motorola, will be keeping a close eye on Apple's strategy of linking content with handsets, she said.

The iPhone is causing a shake-up of how things work in the US cellular industry. In the past, it has been seen that the carriers such as AT&T, Sprint, Cingular, etc drive the show in terms of deals, data services, etc, while phone vendors such as Nokia, Motorola, do not have much of a say in terms of customer facing terms.
In the case of the iPhone, Apple has struck a hard bargain and managed to keep it, so AT&T people were not privy to much of the details of the iPhone, did not have much of a say in how the phone software works and the interface, etc. And now, to insist that iPhone users need to have a iTunes account means that AT&T can't simply sell the iPhone to users and expect it to start working.
There could be an uptake in the number of people complaining that their phones don't work and why do they need to sign up for an iTunes account. The question remains, with the high prices, with no keypad, and with additional requirements such as this one, when will the iPhone just be sold for novelty value and not get the mass selling. At some point, do you reach a point where people resist buying because of the inconveniences involved?
Why does Apple want people to have an iTunes account mandatorily ? If you refer to the bottom section of the Apple iPhone page, it is clear that the user needs to have an account. But if the user wants to use the iPhone for phone calling, and for loading their personal music and videos, they would certainly not prefer having to create an iTunes account. And there is the familiar argument about the iPhone restricting competition by forcing people onto the Apple music platform; after all the iPod's were pure music devices, but this is a phone as well, and there can be a distinction made between the music selling industry and the phone industry, and forcing one on the other could be treated as anti-competitive.