Yup. Very much so. If AA then cancelled only the held bookings they would look pretty foolish. If they then cancelled all bookings it would be quite different than what they actually did.

I am not so concerned that AA cancelled an "obvious mistake" fare (though I wish I knew how to determine that). I am very concerned that a "hold" is not really a hold. A hold that a customer decides to purchase within the allotted time should be treated no differently than an immediate purchase. I can't think of an exception.

BTW, I neither booked nor held any of these tickets. I just care because of the bad precedent gutting the concept of holding a booking.