A digital pet service that imitated a sweetheart or lover won users' hearts — then the company that ran it cut these simulated beloved from expressing affection.

The free software movement has something to say about it, and the author of the article gets it: "You can never have a safe emotional interaction with a thing or a person that is controlled by someone else."

Whether the author learned this from us, or thought of it on per own, it is good to see.

At the same time, a simulated friend that is entirely under your own control is not satisfactory, because whatever it says and does is your own fantasy. It is like a puppet.