This is definitely a question for the lawyers. But to my eyes, that email is highly defensive. My guess is they are trying to talk people out of making a stink

This is definitely a question for the lawyers. But to my eyes, that email is highly defensive. My guess is they are trying to talk people out of making a stink about this. IANAL, so my take on this is amateurish at best, but when you buy a company you take over all their contracts, not just the ones you like. Whenever these lifetime accounts signed up, whatever terms of the account existed at the time still are valid. So Id ask OP - do you have any of the original info from when you signed up? Any terms/conditions about the account? If you do, that would help clarify the situation.