ignoring the issue is just another way of saying "catch me if you can." and even then open source lawsuits are rather toothless anyway, so the company clearly expects there to be zero consequence.
You know, the tool that very famously had a massive rug pull once it gained marketshare https://www.servethehome.com/docker-abruptly-starts-charging...
If the money was starting to run dry, with everyone using the tech (and Docker Hub in particular) but not really giving them any money for it, then something was bound to change.
It's cool that there are other alternatives to Docker Hub though and projects like Podman. I feel like with a bigger grace period, the Docker pricing changes wouldn't have been a big deal.