Pedantry may help address the author's gripe: whether a thing is provided at (monetary) cost or free, that provision, like any exchange of goods & services, is

Pedantry may help address the author's gripe: whether a thing is provided at (monetary) cost or free, that provision, like any exchange of goods & services, is an entitlement. If a company entitles me to a service and it's free, I am justified in my being entitled to a free service. Any notion that I'm not entitled to that service for free would be invalid unless the company set appropriate expectations. However, the company, in fact, set expectations that the product is free. You are not entitled to the delusion that users should have any other expectation unless your aim is to promote user distrust and cynicism.