Well, I did read it through and I have to ask again the question that you pointedly failed to answer: where exactly does it say that IB wanted an IB only forum? Because while John certainly stated that he wanted comms to flow, he was distinctly non committal on any particular means of comms. OTOH, he was very clear in inviting FTers to email IB if they were under the impression that comms were not flowing adequately.

As I could not for a second imagine that you would be a person that would stir the pot for the sake of stirring the pot, I can only assume that you have in fact got in touch with IB (as John suggested in those chats that you have researched in detail) and that IB have told you that they would welcome an IB only forum, which would only makes sense if IB themselves wanted it. I note that, again, you have not answered that question. No doubt that this must be your natural shyness and modesty...