In the long run, they are only hurting themselves. I mean seriously, there are so many forum sites out there that can be made into what AO was...all it takes is the membership. When you purchase a long-standing website like AO, what you are actually purchasing is the membership and the reputation of that website. If you deteriorate that membership/reputation past a certain point, you are only hurting yourself. And we all know how quickly things can burn out on the internet. It won't take long to go from a respected security website to a cracker/warez site. And really...at this point, what are you losing? The site as it was has been gone for a long time now.