OK, (this disclaimer almost goes without saying, but . . .) I'm not an international caliber athlete (not even close) and have never competed at the Olympics or World Championships (or even USATF National or NCAA Championships). That being said, it seems to me that when you get to that level and break a rule for which the penalty is a DQ--no matter whether you intend to break the rule or not (see Women's 1500m final [maybe]) or break it by a foot, a meter, 10 meters, or an inch (see US 4 x 100m prelim)--you accept that the result is of your own doing and not the fault of the person/team that files the protest.
I've seen read letsrun and Doug Logan complain that filing the protest which got the US Men's 4 x 100m team disqualified was poor sportsmanship by the British. I just don't see it. If LeBron was palming the ball throughout the Finals and Phil Jackson wasn't carping at the refs about it he wouldn't be doing his job (ok, maybe that example doesn't work perfectly since the NBA doesn't make that call, like, EVER--especially on stars like LeBron).
Track and Field's World Championships, with millions of dollars of prize money and endorsements at stake--as well is in many countries a substantial amount of national pride on the line--is not that different from the NBA Finals, and, as such, I don't see how it was anything other than entirely appropriate for Charles van Commenee, or Seb Coe, or the Queen of England, or any other member of the British delegation (Note: I know at least one and maybe two of the people I mentioned there either weren't at the T&F WCs at all, or weren't there with the English delegation) to file a legitimate protest through the proper channels in order to bring to light a rules violation that, if noticed by the officials, would be of benefit to their team.
Sport at the highest level is, and I believe should be, about winning any way possible within the rules (although it all too frequently, even at lower levels of competition, is about winning in any way possible, rules be damned--and that is tragic). And that's what this was an example of; the Brits trying their damndest to finish as high as possible by doing everything possible within the rules of the game. And, ultimately, filing that protest was likely the difference between the G.B. & N.I. team ending up on the podium (they finished third and earned a bronze medal in the US-less final) or not. So good on them; they earned it by passing the baton within the zone, running very, very fast, and utilizing the appropriate channels to ensure that all of their competitors were required to do the same.