Advocating for the devil here: Why is it perfectly fine that script authors protect their work and there is always a fuzz when builders\ clothing designers decide to do the same?
Ha! Several reasons, really.
* Modification of visuals is pretty much a very personal thing - Avatars are, after all, an expression of the user. Limiting that is *really* limiting.
* More often than not, re-scripting stuff isn't necessary for the average item - you don't 'see' scripts, and often they do exactly what they're supposed to, from an end-.user point of view.
* Often enough (sadly), creators don't use self-made scripts, but scripted systems they essentially buy for re-distribution. Texturing scripts, scripts they actually commissioned off a third-party that doesn't want their code freely distributed, etc. Many creators really don't have the time to work their way into the guts of SL's scripting quirks on their own.
* There are good scripters out there that essentially make a living off scripting for creators. If their code was visible, they'd be out of work really fast as it could get copied all over the place.
-> Modify-enabled items do the opposite: They enable a third party modding market, especially if the original creators provide templates. See: Furries. SO many furries. So many mods and addons.
* what *is* bad though is being unable to remove scripts from hairs, clothes etc due to (drumroll) nomod items themselves. I don't need to keep scripts in that I won't use anymore.
* Modify items allow you to add scripted functionality, or even completely replace the nomod scripts with your own (been there, done that). Nomod items themselves won't even allow you to do that.
