John_Smith
I think you are absolutely right in what you say.
But (big but) which airline is going to be brave enough to incur adverse
PR by bringing such cases to court.
The answer, to my mind, is to carry ALL passenger baggage in the hold.
I check everything and have a small hand bag with shoulder strap in which I carry my passport, ticket, boarding pass, wallet, MP3 player, a 7" tablet computer, mobile phone along with a small power pack that will give both a couple of full charges which keeps them going for my occasional 11 hour direct flights from BKK to LHR. It is 9" x 8" x 6" and sits on my lap during takeoff and landing.
I suppose people hope that they can exit the arrival airport quicker by carrying all their junk in the cabin with them but my experience these days is that once you get through the queue at immigration your checked baggage has usually been unloaded off the carousel and is sitting in a pile waiting for you to collect it.