The agreement was entered as both a court order and a contract. And, one of the interesting things about buying a company is that you generally have to buy the whole package -- assets as well as liabilities. That was the case in this instance. Now, the new management does indeed use 'weasel words' as a poster above noted when discussing this, which is unfortunate, but some folks seem to think that S+W could just walk way from the judgment and life would be grand. Actually, what would most likely happen is that the new owner would find himself a guest of the federal government for violating a court order (the courts tend to frown on that sort of thing.) And, just to be clear, the agreement part of the deal is with HUD, not the ATF. ATF is in the enforcement side of this deal, not policy side (at least on the formal org chart.)
As far as I'm concerned, the boycott worked, and it's time to move on. S+W make the best small revolvers on the market, bar none, and there's no reason to continue to buy foreign products in lieu of a solid, high quality American brand.
I like the feel, grip angle, and ruggedness of the Ruger SP-101 over the J-framed S&W, but the latter has a superior trigger.