I expect more of companies and people than their minimum legal obligations.

"I expect more of companies and people than their minimum legal obligations."

That's weird ... what do you expect from, say, hammers and blenders ?

I expect people to do nice things and be kind and think of my interests. Simple tools, on the other hand (like screwdrivers and shovels and LLCs and Corporations and family trusts) should just do exactly what they are designed to do - and nothing more.

It’s strange to me you excuse groups of people from having the same obligations as a lone person.

They're not obligations, they're just subjectives wishes. If you want to make it a requirement then that's what the license is for.

Fair point. Still, even corporate entities are made up of flesh-and-blood humans. So if those humans benefit substantially more than the original creators of a work then it's reasonable to expect those founders to change their license or stop contributing.

So it's possible that well-funded consumer/producers like Amazon may at times crush, overtake, or otherwise discourage some of the unpaid labor that they benefit from.

(Not trying to make a moral argument. Personally I'm a bit conflicted on consuming and producing FOSS.)

That's great but others don't. That's why we have legal definitions, so that we can define clear and objective requirements.

It's reasonable to expect that of people, but why of companies? Isn't a company like Amazon's moral compass guided solely by legal obligations?

You are probably right in the sense of what-is, that Amazon's moral compass is guided only by legal obligations. That does not make it what-should-be. Companies are groups of people. Decency is not erased when a corporation enters the picture.

Corporations exist for the benefit of the society that grants them their charter and that charter can--and should--be revoked when the corporation acts against the best interests of that society. We do have that power, but we've forgotten about it.

Companies are just a group of people. Companies don't do anything, people do and then use companies to try and shield themselves from blame.

Expectation is the mother of all disappointments.