Thank you Takata,
I'm not "invested" in any particular theory on AF447 other than that airspeed indications can rise as well as fall with an iced pitot tube.
The comment relative to autothrottles was made in an attempt to synchronize a Vmo/Mmo pitchup in Normal Law with the observed information (That is, it would have already happened before the first ACARS event) but I have to agree, it is improbable a crew would put the throttles to idle and the airspeed mismatch is quite sufficient to disconnect the autothrottles.
To summarize your reply though, Alt 2 flight law would remove the Vmo/Mmo protections and restore control.
(FWIW lost most of my references in a recent computer crash and haven't had time to rebuild)
Thank you for taking the time to respond.
MB