Personally, I hadn't heard any of the controversy/conspiracy mentioned, but it's an interesting take on how they price some of their products.
parallel42.com
Behind the Price Tag: The Real Story of Our UI Utilities like Thick Scroll.
There seems to be confusion and misinformation about why some of our UI utilities, such as Thick Scroll, go free. In fact, there is some conspiracy talk, so let's fill in the blank space.Microsoft sets a minimum price of $4.99 USD for all Marketplace submissions, so our initial pricing is...
parallel42.com