They had a /8, out of that they sold a /10 to probably one of the big 5.
They never got close to using the whole /8 and currently allocated about a third of it.
They are using the money for grants and scholarships and perhaps an endowment to fund them perpetually (and just being cynical, probably paying the board who made this decision some of that money as well)
IPs and blocks have been allocated for decades to people for amateur radio related things and will continue to do so without any changes.
It has been nearly impossible to get an allocation from them as a ham, if they even bother responding at all, so i don't buy this. This is an obvious money grab.
A volume discount isn't a backroom deal. Unless you think for some reason the group that controls 44.0.0.0/8 is beholden to Amazon or big tech for some reason.
They never got close to using the whole /8 and currently allocated about a third of it.
They are using the money for grants and scholarships and perhaps an endowment to fund them perpetually (and just being cynical, probably paying the board who made this decision some of that money as well)
IPs and blocks have been allocated for decades to people for amateur radio related things and will continue to do so without any changes.