Why would they shoot themselves in the foot? If it's 'for the money', they're living in lala land. Is that what Zoom wanted? For it's bound to happen. Unfortunately, this will indeed lead to many vacating Zoom in favor of other platforms. But to have made this 'dramatic' change with no regard to those unable to pay, this is a very callous decision on the part of Zoom. 'If' the change was made due to basic users exceeding the limits, the decision of 40 minutes is a bit odd. I did upgrade to pro, but am now wondering about those who are unable to do so. I received no email notification, just the message to upgrade when in a meeting.

All users should have been notified 'well' in advance.

After that, free users would be allowed to place 60-minute calls 20 minutes more than Zoom’s free account. Until the end of September, you won’t have to worry about the duration of your calls. The way it was implemented was wrong as well. All you need is a Gmail account, and you’re good to host to up to 99 people on a single call. I'm able to afford the license, but if I were Zoom, I would definitely take into consideration those in other countries, those who are less fortunate, those who can not afford the license/upgrade.

The way it was implemented was wrong as well.

Zoom call limit