Covenants and llHTTPRequest

I've seen quite a few convenants now that explicitly forbid any scripted object that talks to the "outside world".

Is there any basis for this at all? The only alternative I can think of is relaying information via email to a prim in a different sim which then does the actual request, but that would involve continuous round the clock email polling which I would think has a higher impact than the occasional HTTP request.

Is it going to be obvious that a device you buy is doing HTTP requests and how would the sim owner check?

I get the impression that some of those requirements are to restrict griefing, spying, and an increase on sim lag.

I recently bought land that had such a restriction. It said no scripts with external communication to a database without express permission from the sim owner. So before buying I talked to the sim owner, told them what I was doing, and was told my application would be fine.

Kind of like a "no pets" policy at an apartment building in real life. If you ask about having a goldfish, odds are they are going to say yes.