This is just arguing semantics. You don't have to pay anything for the initial download, so there is no legal reason for this. They could just public the repo a

This is just arguing semantics. You don't have to pay anything for the initial download, so there is no legal reason for this. They could just public the repo and put their license (including the $1MM+ royalties) in a LICENSE file. I suspect the "real" reason for the current rigamarole is to get your details for their marketing team.