Essentially freedom of speech does not cover business, the employees or customers. If it was, imagine how brutal advertising would be........
WGT/TG set the rules and they are a condition of use. Breaking those rules is a clear violation and the company can do what they choose - it is perfectly legal.
What I do not understand, why were the posts not just deleted and warnings issued....or worse.
The mods are in a tough place, but to me consistency is so far removed.
This was not the smart play by WGT IMO.....but in all honesty.....the thread was so far off track for the last half of the thread - even Rich asked at times for WGT to can it.....
Edit - this is no attack on Rich, just the hard and fast facts of business. As Lonnie said, in real life you come across a fair share of idiots - on WGT this is the same.....
In hindsight, I am not disappointed that the thread is now locked - it can now lie within the content of WGT as a historical synopsis of the players who played the game....an insight into the players behind the screen- in that way it is a great snapshot of the time when the WGT community was probably at its best.