Regarding the response to BlueWing from Flowers, his reply gives more the impression that he was reacting to the recent purchase by RG via his Trust, and less to the thought of repurchase by PTSC, the corporate entity.  The word "buybacks" does throw me though.  The whole thing does sound kinda goofy based on this summary of the reply from Flowers. 

But maybe the point Flowers was trying to make is that the regs are open to multiple interpretations (as, per my experience with Gov't regs, is not uncommon), and PTSC chose to follow the most restrictive interpretation. 

But, IMO, the bottom line is that the company announced publicly that they could not and therefore would not repurchase shares during this period, so if they did (without notice), they'd be in hot water IMO.

SGE