I agree with your principle, OldNGrey, but I would add to it: I would also be interested to see if there is any measurable difference in how the server performs, whether it needs to handle encryption or not. Given the ease with which the encryption was always broken in the past, I've always suspected it's actually just encoding, or a very simple encryption that would tend to be very light anyway (otherwise, it would seem to have a negative effect on game play in general)... but I also tend to be of the opinion that any small improvement is worthwhile... but maybe it's so miniscule it's not worthwhile..
Blerg. Then, there's also the question; is it even worth it, to begin with? So agonizing!
