It would not at all surprise me to learn that large swathes of technology are technically illegal, just not anticipated (or properly understood by the right people) or against the 'spirit' of the law.
Perhaps, but given how tightly regulated radio is in general and how closely wifi device makers work with regulators (e.g. look at DFS/TPC in the 5Ghz band) it would surprise me if one of the core technologies of wifi (CSMA) was in such a precarious legal situation.
Oh I don't mean I would ever expect it to play out precariously, just that it would be an awkward technicality of the way something happened to be phrased, and fixed when noticed/required.
