I think over time they have been building many escape hatches. If enough users want it, they'll build one big one. So far, though, I don't think there's a lot of evidence that users really care, other than technical folks.
Carrier restrictions, on the other hand, will always be there to some degree, unless Apple decides to buy a US or Global carrier, and upend the market. That will suck in some ways (more concentration of power) but not in others (they'd change practices in favour of a better user experience, to move people to them).
It would be simple enough to have a very annoying warning when the user turned off the lockdown.