There is a big difference between the airline hiding the rules and you getting a message about not being able to lookup up your Aadvantage number when trying to view them. Did you contact Web Services to ask about getting the problem fixed?

Regarding the rules themselves. I have little trouble understanding them, but I am sure a lot of people have trouble. However, people also have difficulty understanding a lot of contractual stuff, like car rental and credit card terms.
This is limited to AA.

Not all "taxes" are really taxes, some are fees, and they are included in the price of the ticket purchased. By agreement, you agree to a penalty for cancelling a ticket. The amount of the penalty is not affected by the value of the ticket, and in many cases exceeds the value of the ticket, even when taxes and fees are included. If you buy a ticket that doesn't have cancellation penalties, then the refund is the entire amount of the ticket, including taxes and fees. I have no problem with this. I will gladly risk the penalty rather than paying for a full price ticket. It shoud also be noted that when awards are cancelled, you are refunded the taxes. That is, you pay the $150 fee (or $0 if the miles are out of an EXP account) and you get the taxes and government fees returned. I don't know how this works with awards with fuel surcharges, but I assume you would get that back also.

The penalties are not new news and not specific to AA.