@Otto -I agree with Otto and would take it a step further. While, as a website owner, I may feel a little concerned about a plugin "phoning home" reporting how I use it, frankly if that's the cost I have to pay for a free plugin that allows me or even my clients to extend the core's functionality, then it's a small price to pay and I'm willing to ante up. Frankly, I assumed that in this day and age that all free plugins or themes reported back to some extent and am (pleasantly) surprised to learn that WP holds plugin developers to such a high standard.

Ted's reply is typical whining from people who gladly take free software, complain when it's not perfect, and expect not to have to contribute.

I'm not a developer, I can't contribute to the WP core or to a plugin project in that way, so if they need to track my usage, I'm happy to oblige.