The code can become "radioactive" as well when a software library goes paid. It starts phoning home with information about its environment to ensure compliance which is just kinda... icky to most devs. I certainly don't want that bloat in my dependencies.

That's a good point. There's no good way to ensure your open source (source available?) project isn't being ripped off by some company.

Even if you add functionality to phone home, it can be removed by all but the dumbest offenders.