[chinpokomon]

The installer itself doesn't require root and that isn't why it was pulled. It was pulled because trying to install an unapproved OS on the device may have left the device in a state that non-technical users may not know how to fix. when their device is now "broken" manufactures say that installing the unapproved OS voids the warranty. The finger pointing goes back to Google for allowing an application in the Play Store that voids warranties. Since no application on the Play Store should break a user's device, they asked CyanogenMod to remove the application.

This in no way is meant to prevent users from voiding their warranty, users can still side load the application or they can use more traditional ways of installing a custom ROM. I'm not sure why this decision is ruffling feathers. CyanogenMod has over a million installs to date, and is still thriving. The installer made things a little less complicated, but removing it from the Play Store won't really slow them down.