This may have changed in the last 24 hours, but last I checked tip4commit's opt-out model is "get stuffed". The original controversy was over their refusal to remove projects from the site on request.

I agree that Bitcoin is more or less irrelevant to the controversy, but like the OP says, the tip4commit defenders seem to have intentionally made it a pro/anti-Bitcoin conflict. Bitcoin advocates were mobilized to support the site.