Can we have an "Ask Sean" catagory?

Even when I disagreed with him I always found Sean interesting and informative. In the very best sense of the word Sean was a muckracker. That said, Sean appeared to have an axe to grind on any number of issues and given the volume and depth of his postings it probably is in his and Audiogon's best long term interests to part their ways. It seemed as if it was getting personal.

I for one would strongly encourage Sean to start his own on-line forum.

It has nothing to do will lawsuit potential, it's simple business. Audiogon is a commercial, profit oriented site for the buying/selling of equipment. Dealers and manufacturers are the major source of revenue for Audiogon. The discussion forums may attract visitors to the site, but they generate zero revenues. So if you're the owner/manager of Audiogon and there's a problem in the forums that in any way threatens your major source of income, then the solution is obvious. Push comes to shove, the people who own and run Audiogon can simply discontinue the forums. It's not a free speech issue. If you got something to say Audiogon's not stopping you from starting your on website and saying anything you so desire.