Opera didn't take back their lawyer letter. They settled out of court. If there hadn't been a settlement they would still have been going to court.

It's funny that you're talking as if all of HN thinks Moz is in the wrong here. There's plenty of comments on this story that suggest otherwise.

I never did.

I want people to understand the why, that's why I'm here. My goal isn't to convince people to change their mind. The truth of the matter is that we were put into a difficult position, and with the information we had, this was what we viewed as our only course of action.

this is a straw-man argument, no one 'forced' you to do anything, a decision was made and it was the wrong one

now you have two choices, double down or retract and learn from the mistake

Seems you are the one with the straw man, since he didn't say anyone forced them to do something.

"we viewed as our only course of action"

That sentence does not mean that anyone forced them to do anything.