Most themers obviously don't understand that they should not be replacing executable code. I'm not saying they shouldn't be able to replace the boot icon, but to do that they shouldn't replace the BootX code too. Of course, with the current (inflexible) theme formats, this is not possible.

With a bit of forethought and planning, it would easily be possible for themes to not be dangerous and not distribute Apple intellectual property (most themes out there have Apple resources in them, and therefore by distributing them people are violating Apple's copyright and so are technically breaking the law). I don't understand why this hasn't happened yet. Instead of sitting around and complaining, I hope to actually address those issues with ThemeChanger