I agree Griffin, to MikeL's statement on ethics I just thought it was good to make a hardline statement on being ethical. There is reasonable personal interpretation and there is rationalization, but the EULA is still the basis that should give you direction as to the intention of the firm. I may be swayed somewhat by the corporate side, as you mentioned. I work for one of the largest law firms in the nation, and supervise the staff that coordinates all our licensing compliance. With a large IP and litigation department we bring in new software literally daily and have a HUGE incentive to comply.
And I have to apologize if I implied the $80 controller issue was a form of rationalization, you make a very good point that if the controller effectively acts as a key, it could be implied to be a license of it's own. I wouldn't decide that in a corporate environment, but personally I would almost certainly agree. (Having read more and not found anything to the contrary...)