Mt. Gox is essentially no different than any bank which is doing the same thing: trying to control you by controlling your money.
Not true at all. Mt.Gox is not subsidized via force through the FDIC, nor is it privy to privileged borrowing from the central bank, nor does it exist upon a fractional reserve lending system.
You can also be sure that Gox would prefer not to know anything about you, but feels compelled to follow AML and KYC laws because it is the highest profile bitcoin business (and I agree with them - it'd be extremely foolish for Gox to try and skirt the law, however asinine the law may be).
You're not forced to use Gox if you care highly about your privacy. You don't have a right to use their private system unless they permit you to, and they permit it based on requisite information.
I'd like to see exchanges which skirt the law, and don't ask for any ID... but Gox should not be the one to do it. It's far too vulnerable in its core Bitcoin position.
Strategically speaking, Gox needs to resist stirring up trouble, so that others may
Any organization, including Mt. Gox, that collaborates with state-sponsored efforts to collect identification, freeze assets or otherwise serve property-related warrants is the enemy of a free world.
This is a battle of principles and ideals and we shall know our friends as those who uphold and personify those ideals without compromise.