The idea was that the weekend of the review bombing AH and Sony weren't communicating a lot/ didn't have a plan for countries where the game was already sold but could no longer be played.
So it was speculated that Valve might have pulled sales because they wanted to protect themselves from any legal repercussions, while all the dust settled. At the very least it would look like they tried to do something if it ever went to court.
It made sense to me but I live in the US. If you break into someones house here and hurt yourself, the homeowner is liable legally even though the criminal was breaking and entering into the homeowners home. The country is so sue happy that many companies are very proactive on legal matters.