Yes, but that is not what the GPLv2 death penalty is. The principle if true means that one can never obtain a new licence when coming in compliance except by g

Yes, but that is not what the GPLv2 death penalty is. The principle if true means that one can never obtain a new licence when coming in compliance except by gaining permission from every single rightsholder which for large projects can be thousands. — this is theoretically true by the letter of the GPLv2, but the common legal opinion is that this provision is not legally enforceable. The GPLv3 fixed this unintentional problem, as the GPLv2 was never written with the idea of thousands of rightsholders in mind.