From the Open Handset Alliance:
“The Android platform will be made available under one of the most progressive, developer-friendly open-source licenses, which gives mobile operators and device manufacturers significant freedom and flexibility to design products.”
Give mobile operators and device manufacturers freedom, not consumers.
If anything, the people claiming that Android was created for freedom for consumers are rewriting history.
The software may be built by consumers for consumers, e.g., AOSP distros. But, the hardware and mobile infrastructure, probably not.