wow Ron, you sure twist words. Its risky to communicate with you. I meant not to close the thread, just our back and forth. Evasion never occurred. You just wanted me to discuss something differnt than I was discussing. The thread wasn't yours either, so you had no right to demand the nature of my discussions.Two others provided very interesting posts back and forth in this thread. Mike and Bryan...in both cases I feel my sense of the issues is enhanced.In both cases they viewed the world similar to you.In neither case did they twist my words and attempt to set up in a trap.Whats your excuse? Those two fellows did not feel the need to be rude.I'm alerting the mods to your behavior, you are out of line.Bob

Alert away Bob. I've not twisted your words in any way. You have been out of line since your first deragatory comments about me personally. Sorry Bob, it is clear from your own posts that you are not nearly the gentleman you would like for folks to think.Refusal to answer direct questions relevant to the subject at hand does indeed amount to evasion just as now.It is quite obvious from your posts that you were only interested in taking the thread into the morass of relativism and are unconcerned over the issue of theft unless and until it effects you personally.You profess that you are unconcerned about theft as long as it only impacts business entities. To paraphrase you...if you don't want your products to be stolen then do not sell them to countries who steal....The fact still remains that theft impacts the consumer in the form of higher prices every time they visit a retail establishment. It is possible that a few fs enthusiast might see this fact as a wakeup call and actually put some peer pressure to bear on their friends who practice software theft.Bob, your own posts contain quite a number of rude comments towards me personally so let's not attempt to play the martyr here OK? If you want to let this go then I suggest that you do so instead of making unfounded accusations.:-)

Alright guys, I think you're going to have to agree to disagree on this one...lol. Let's not burn any friendships here. :-)

I've just heard from Tom Allensworth that Ron's behaviour here is acceptable. That's interesting to me. Since Ron's behavour is to discredit people (me), rather than have straigtforward discussion of ideas..my next comments are surely fine as well. Ron has manipulated this thread. He's set word traps and then declared my stepping around them EVASION. That's spin worthy of a candidate.Ron..you use the word evasive likes its a BAD thing. Pity the fool that doesn't evade a TRAP. And you are a manipulator to use the word in an act of spin to discredit my discussion of academic research. I've been offering new ideas into the discussion. Initially I was not referring to individuals, ideas. you don't have to like my thoughts, but since they were spawned by academic research, to eliminate the discussion of the notions I raise though spin and personal insult is as dire to intellectual discorse as thought-police.We have a subject here with a very clear middle ground. That middle ground is that when you live in a society and have laws, you either obey them or suffer the consequences. That's agreed to. That's fine. That's safe ground. No one disagees. Too bad I can't get Ron to stop blathering about that safe ground. Too bad he won't engage in a debate about what you do OUTSIDE that safe ground. That's whats interesting. And that's what the research is about that I thought folks would find interesting. Ron is afraid of new ideas. (REMEMBER TOM>>>THIS IS NOW ACCEPTABLE COMMENTARY) He fights against that fear by discrediting the source. Standard technique in courtrooms..and politics. And its been proven to work...make sure people only hear the message Ron want's to discuss. Thought policing. Ron is also limited..he can't lift himself out of the context that has formed his thoughts and imagine living in a different society that thinks differently. (REMEMBER TOM>>>>THIS IS NOW OK>>ITS NO DIFFERNT THAN SPINNING THE WORD EVASION INTO A NEGATIVE AND THEN LABELLING ME WITH IT) That can be scary to be so limited..so best squelch the scary stuff, Right Ron? And Tom...you best clarify your feelings that Ron and I are behaving properly...cuz the barn door is creaking open, and you don't really want to see what comes out. I would NEVER have written this post this way had you not authorized such wording in your email to me. I would be more than happy to never write another one once you agree to enforce a civil forum. Bob

Darn. Ron is perfectly capable of taking care of himself, Bob, so I

"And Tom...you best clarify your feelings that Ron and I are behaving properly...cuz the barn door is creaking open, and you don't really want to see what comes out." -----------------------------------------------------------------Wow, threats to Tom and I from an academic no less.....Now you have me smiling Bob. Your comments do indeed show your true colors.At least you are no longer using the smokescreen of "academic discussion" to cover your intent in this thread.I didn't stutter or mince words with you and am certainly unafraid of you or your so called new ideas.If you are unable to present a reasonable basis for your so called new ideas it could mean that those arguments simply don't hold water in the real world where we all live and do business.In that world Bob, you as consumer pay much more than you should have to because the cost of theft to business is offset in the form of higher prices to consumers. While this may not be news to you, it very well could be news to others.Why bring it up? The answer is simple. The thread is titled "how damaging is piracy" In every post I've attempted to bring something informational and/or educational to the actual subject.It is hoped that a reread of my posts would cause a few positives with regard to helping casual thieves realize what effect their decisions and actions have on themselves, their family, friends, and fellow flightsimmers.If you wish to continue this discourse then please stay on topic and refrain from turning this into a pxxxxxxing contest.:-)

Bob-if you go back and read this thread-I frankly see no difference in the postering from either Ron or you-you both are making your cases in a similar way. However, at this point, it seems to be heading a wrong direction.Because you are valued members of this community how about we just put this rest now and don't let it escalate....http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/1b5baf...b9f427f694g.jpgMy blog:http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

Fair enough.

Bob,You sent an alert to our team of mods requesting that we both lock the thread AND censor Ron. I refused to due either because the message alert link you sent and your view of that message did not deserve the censoring of him. I see from this message and the email that you sent in response to my refusal as approval for you to escalate this further. I am not going to accept that. This thread is now locked.