The Foundation claims they have a contract with Farnell that requires Farnell to sell to everyone. But apparently the Foundation didn't really know about Farnell's true nature and their business-only policy in several countries. And I don't think the Foundation really cares in the long run, as long as Farnell sells to the primary target group, UK customers.
Until now I have not seen a clear statement from Farnell that they will sell to end-users. Just beating around the bush. They tell people that everyone is allowed to register an interest now. Sure, but that is an entirely different thing compared to being allowed to order. And being allowed to order is still an entirely different thing than Farnell fulfilling the order.
Anyhow, the boards somehow magically made it back to the fab to get the Ethernet socket exchanged. I can't get rid of the impression that no board was ever inside an RS or Farnell warehouses, that they weren't even on the mysterious, soon to arrive, boat from China. I got the impression sales started without any stock at all while the boards were still build in China. All a little bit to mysterious for my liking.
