The questioning of independence is not really the issue. I could have ended this thread but have not as we would rather things are above board. Simon is quite entitled to his views and this is not what i removed. I have sent John a PM which explains my actions and hope he agrees with them. I think a couple of posts went further than they should have and those are the ones I removed. Neither were actually related to the subject of independence but were personal attacks which in my view reflected badly on the individual members and were hopefully said in anger and with the benefit of time would be regretted. Neither post would be relevant to this discussion and hence I don't think I stamped on the thread. I do feel that we are entitled to defend our positions though.

John I agree entirely with you which was the reason I answered Simons original post in an attempt to show him nothing was being hidden furtively.

What I don't particularly like is uninformed insinuation and was the reason behind my rather more heated reply, I would like to think my voice has just the same right of hearing as his. Personal insults have no place on this community though and is made quite clear to anyone registering.

Chris.

Fair enough to both Peter and Chris.

I agree that insults have no place here, having almost crossed that line myself a couple of weeks ago.

I've stayed out of all these "political" discussions, as I didn't come here to fight or to see others having a fight. Anyway, now I feel I'll say something.

If it wasn't for this forum, I wouldn't have my three quarters of a Beosystem 6500 - I probably couldn't have fixed them without invaluable help from here, and I certainly wouldn't have wanted to pay the prices that working examples regularly fetch. (and I've even made a living as an AV electronics designer, but these old B&O items have their quirks...). Not to mention the VX5000.

So, in a twisted way one could say that even I have made money on Beoworld, or at least avoided losing some. I couldn't care less if the owners make money out of this, even if my humble writings contributed to it; actually I hope they did, rather than lose.

It was only after the fact that I upgraded my bronze membership. The cost of silver will only get you a couple of service manuals on eBay, and gold wasn't much extra. And remember, anyone can read the forum without joining at all!

As to the current moderator crew, I trust them fully to do the sensible and right things. I'm sure anyone can learn to disagree without being rude. It's only electronics and software we're dealing with here, after all...

-mika