That's not a bad compromise, really. Still, even if this policy had come around when I was a Dreamhost customer, it wouldn't have been enough to keep me. Their other issues (overselling of the web servers themselves, infamously horrible support, and repeated billing SNAFUs) make them worth the $9/yr introductory price, but not nearly worth the $10/month it goes up to after the first year.

That said, their control panel was decent, and they were never hesitant to add things like ssh, subversion, video streaming, and AFP that other discount hosts weren't offering. So, for anyone just getting in the game, it's really not a bad place to start.