Given that there won't be a console version (to start with anyway) of this last installment of one of my most favorite gaming series, the lack of LAN support is more annoying than the lack of dedicated servers (local internet speeds (UK Channel Islands) suck, so playing any game where gameplay is severely affected if there is any lag is a no-no for me).
however, I don't wholly buy the reason as being you can't track unlocks and accolades properly. MW2 actually allows you to level up and unlock things offline with system link (on 360 anyway) and you can also use your online profile in a system link game, with the stats just updated when you boot up your profile. That being the case, surely EA can support the same thing for LAN gaming, where stats and unlocks are just temp stored until they can be uploaded to the servers?
Still, the flipside of the coin is the dedicated server community is vastly outweighed by the population of PC gamers that don't know/don't care, so from a fiscal sense, concentrating on just one option is probably a lot cheaper (and means mods and tweaks can be tighter regulated, probably charged for too). True, dedicated server supporters may be more vocal than those that don't really mind, but when you are a company like EA, where you make much more money out of games like Sims than you'll ever make out of a C&C game, it isn't too hard to see why they would cut whatever corners they can and keep their property on a tighter leash.