I say "rant away!"...
I just looked in Windows update and, yep, there's an update for FTDI.
a) Does Microsoft know about this driver? It's on the official Windows update thingy so they're supposed to look at all the source code as part of WHQL testing before they sign it. Have they not pulled this driver from Windows update? That makes Microsoft guilty as well.
I bought my FTDI devices on eBay so I have no idea what chips are on there, or any way of finding out. I only know they're working fine at the moment.