I look at it this way.
Sony has no plausible deniability if on the news one day... 'Sony Lithium Battery Disfigures Vaper".
Flat tops cause fires. Not all, but they do.
Tools - dyson vacs, mowers. blowers, cell phones, laptops, and well engineered hover boards do not cause fires.
A better analogy using cars, is selling cars with no brakes, or seat belts, or air bags.
Protection circuits help prevent or minimize accidents. This is a consumer cell.
Sony cannot protect itself from headline, perhaps even litigation, even if battery was a re-wrapped POS masquerading as a Sony.
They can, if they say their unprotected batteries have never been sold for consumer use and produce the paperwork saying so.
So by putting pressure on suppliers and changing the battery designations, they just have to wait for the supply to dry up of older cells. "We never sold these batteries for consumer use, and made every effort to prevent this".
The option for 'Jion' et al to continue selling Sony batteries is do what orbtronics did - protect the cells with their own circuit and relabel them. This due diligence may keep a supplier in good grace w/ Sony.
I would do the same thing. They really do not need the exposure or the single cell sales. Plus, you have no idea what pressures the insurance companies/lawyers are putting on them. Would you cut the seat belts and air bags out of your car since they are inconvenient restraints and pay the higher insurance rates? I doubt it.
JMHO.
