Are people/orgs who file such complaints legally protected from retaliation? For instance, might Autodesk respond by giving complainants a full refund and a lifetime ban from their products?
It would likely fall under "unconscionable conduct" which is illegal under the ACL.
I would imagine it would difficult for them to prevent individual licences being sold through their retail/online mechanisms.. You would have more limited protections if >100,000 in licence fees, and they may or may not have an enterprise programs for those purchasing that many licences. But where they engage in retaliatory behaviour they could be sued and through discovery determine if they refused to engage with you or jack up the prices in retaliation for a lawful complaint. As you can imagine this would be expensive but... you would also likely be at a scale that could afford such litigation.
I would imagine it would difficult for them to prevent individual licences being sold through their retail/online mechanisms.. You would have more limited protections if >100,000 in licence fees, and they may or may not have an enterprise programs for those purchasing that many licences. But where they engage in retaliatory behaviour they could be sued and through discovery determine if they refused to engage with you or jack up the prices in retaliation for a lawful complaint. As you can imagine this would be expensive but... you would also likely be at a scale that could afford such litigation.