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Thank you, I do now think I have enough data to return here and get this all straight someday.
Don't know if it interests anyone to know I'm not clear yet: I'm finely balanced between wishing I knew and not yet having made time to redecipher the relevant drafts published at t13.org. I did understand the standard here a few years ago, but I haven't used that information recently and I've forgotten a few key details somehow.
My guesses as yet, be they truth or slanderous falsehood, are:
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Maybe, ATA thru SCSI will soon exist. Maybe not.
Maybe, thru an ATA locking option, software can set a random password to block read, write, and erase and force a customer return ... except when the first software that speaks to the drive considerately turns this option off. Maybe not. In particular, booting recovery software after the next power cycle or pin 1 reset might help.
Definitely, if ATA thru SCSI comes into existence as a wholly transparent pass thru, then any problems that do exist with ATA drives connected but not noticed by PC boot BIOS will extend to ATA thru SCSI drives connected but not noticed by BIOS.
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