I think it would be a mistake for IB to allow unfair and irresponsible attacks, against IB, to cause IB to pull back from its participation on EliteTrader.
I think that IB fares very well in the various debates about it. I think that myself and other IB customers do a good job of helping defend IB against unfair criticism. I think that the sort of people who would be deceived by unfair thread titles, and who would not to follow the debates to see that the titles were unfair, are the sort of customers who would not be appropriate for IB anyway, because they would lack the necessary sophistication and ability to function within the IB framework. I think that sometimes fair and valid criticisms are made against IB on EliteTrader, and that those criticisms have become part of an extremely valuable and productive process which continually improves and strengthens the quality and value of IB's offerings.
I think that the attacks and debates, regarding IB, are often embarassing to IB, but that in the end, they do far more to improve IB's quality and its reputation, than they do to harm it. I think the benefits to IB are far greater than the detriments, even though the detriments usually seem more obvious and more immediate.
I think that IB should increase, rather than decrease its participation on EliteTrader, and that IB's increased participation would be a win-win for everybody concerned: ET, IB, and all their employees and customers.
I agree that many of the thread titles, unfairly attacking IB, are outrageously unfair, but I think that censorship of them would jeopardize the quality of debate on ET.
I would suggest that somebody who starts a thread should be routinely permitted to edit the thread title, if he becomes persuaded that the title was unfair. Perhaps also a thread title should be edited somewhat by moderators, where there is clear proof that the title was deceptive. I think that great care should be exercised in the area of trying to address this problem, so that the quality of debate will not be harmed. I would also like to emphasize my belief that the painful task of publicly defending itself against accusations, most of them unfair, but some of them fair, has become part of a process which forces IB to improve itself continually, and makes IB generally superior to its competitors.