Interesting post, in my past I have fired thousands of rounds that were Winchester White Box, at one time it was considered THE "Go To" ammo for people I ran around with that wanted SAFE, relatively cheap ammo to shoot and rely on for consistent dependability and lack of problems. I still have a case of Winchester White Box 5.56 stashed away that has nearly doubled in value over the years. I have found Winchester brass to work fine for me in nearly every application, a box or two of WWB was a good way to get started with a cartridge I was considering on reloading. In other words if I was interested in a firearm that fired a cartridge I did not reload for I might be interested in getting a few boxes of WWB to try out the firearm and in that way would have a good start on good brass.
I am not surprised that Winchester has taken the "lawyered up road" in response to your inquiries, corporate America will never be the same.