This just in from me:
I don't give a shit.
In other news... how is this news?
I mean, I get it's game community related, but is it really news?
No seriously, if EA had said Steam WOULD be getting BF3 AND full Steamworks support, then I could see it being a headline, but as it stands, it's just par for the course, isn't it?
...Steam has adopted a set of restrictive terms of service which limit how developers interact with customers to deliver patches and other downloadable content.
Microsoft has very stringent guidelines for their Live service, PS3, likewise. If indies can survive without issue on the Steam service, along with so many others, on top of delivering what many have said is a revolutionary business model, blah blag etc etc, I fail to see how EA's excuse holds water in the community.
You want to have your own little spot with your own little service, that's fine.
Just don't name it after one of those precious companies you swallowed, and then tell us to love the way you shovel it.