Early termination fees have always represented the flipside of subsidized pricing -- the necessary evil that keeps free phones free.

ENGADGET: FCC gives Verizon the third degree over $350 'advanced device' ETF

Unfortunately, they seem to be a necessary evil in this crazy supply-versus-demand world of capitalism we all call home, particularly in light of the spectrum crunch the FCC keeps warning us about.

ENGADGET: Cricket's new tiered data plans seem like a model for the industry to us

"While Defenders has always recognized that professional control of wolves that prey on livestock is a necessary evil, allowing random, non-selective take through public hunting and trapping is a poor wildlife management decision, " warned Nina Fascione, Defenders of Wildlife associate director of species conservation.

CNN: Defenders of Wildlife oppose gray wolf bill

Pylons are a necessary evil if we are to wean ourselves off carbon-based energy.

BBC: Landscape impact of electric pylon softened by design?

The fixtures throughout the Lodge are entirely done by Rocky Mountain Hardware--understated sand-cast bronze with a natural coating that allows the metal to blend into its environment--and in the mercifully small and hidden salon (a necessary evil in all spas) for sanitary reasons, the pedicure areas use copper basins and no jets.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Networking events are a necessary evil on the calendars of most, but with a little pre-game strategy and a co-conspirator, they can be a fantastic place to show off the art and the science of your hustle.

FORBES: How To Tag Team a Networking Event

Although Matsushita waxes lyrical about its joint-venture partners, the company clearly regards them as something of a necessary evil.

ECONOMIST: Matsushita��s Chinese burn

Other leaders or would-be leaders of Western societies have made the case for capitalism as a necessary evil.

FORBES: Margaret Thatcher Exposed The Infantile Illusions Of Socialism

Free-market advocates, such as The Economist, then become mere apologists for it as a necessary evil.

ECONOMIST: Capitalism's future