I think the other company is taking heat because of the odd timing and the fact that, as a brick-and-mortar distribution model, technically don't compete head-to-head with Outlaw. It would be like Cambridge asking BBK not to build OPPO players because they both sell BD players with similar feature sets. (Granted, it would be doubly weird in that case, since Cambridge BD players are usually clones of OPPO, and deeply unlikely since OPPO has at least some peripheral corporate links to BBK.)

There is clearly some blame to be had between the factory and the other company. Did the company "black list" Outlaw several years ago and only now enforce it? If so, the factory did Outlaw an injustice by pursuing the project anyway? Did the company "black list" Outlaw just now? If so, it is a difficult-to-justify tactic to hurt another company even though the two distribution channels mean the two companies don't compete directly. Either way, it feels a lot like bullying on the part of the other company. Granted, we probably will never have all the details, but that's just the way it looks from where I sit.