> So when those disappear, the customer-owned hardware is bricked? No thanks.
Yes please. If the company that developed some consumer networked hardware goes away, I don't want botnets of that hardware sending spam...
Software updates for security are now the norm for internet connected things, and if a piece of hardware can't be supported anymore, it will probably be exploited and siphon your private data to the highest bidder. It's far better to disable unsupportable hardware than keep using it.
If companies going bankrupt starts harming consumers, government could step in and force companies to contribute to a "support fund" for continued support of their hardware after bankruptcy if necessary.