I think the point is that the clicks could be tracked via Javascript, even if the links themselves point elsewhere.

If we're allowing javascript, then you might as well use links. It would be just as easy to check for selected text to find out what the user copied from the page.

Ah, that's true, I kind of assumed no client-side trickery, as it would be easily detectable.

Yes, if they stand by their word of not using JavaScript. That is easy enough to verify by someone knowledgeable, but I suppose ditching any magnet links would be more of a marketing move ("we can't track your clicks, because there's nothing to click!"). I guess selecting text (at least by selecting it in a textarea) could easily be tracked with js too though...