If you read the case linked in the story, the guy that lost was an attorney specializing in tax law. It looks like the original dispute was over transferring money back in to the accounts in the 60 day time frame. The court came back and said by the way you only get 1 rollover per 12 month period when taking the cash directly..
Per the written tax law. It was the IRS that misinterpreted the law all these years. Why and why this ruling now by the Tax Court?