Operating Renderosity as an R&D test-bed does create some value for EdgeNet, but not nearly as much as some have implied. Our EASE business is young and really just starting to turn the corner itself. Frankly, we don't have the resources to dedicate to a complete over-haul of the site if we wanted to at the moment. Clearly the economic outcome of that sort of investment is questionable given the current climate. The good news is I think the site is pretty well tuned to serve the needs of the community. The site continues to attract about 100 new members per day even with the current situation so something is working. The recent events here make me shake my head. EdgeNet is a business which seeks to make money by serving the needs of customers. I concede that point. Currently we're not doing too great operating Renderosity as a business. This site currently consumes a dedicated T1 which about $1,500 per month. The server required to run the site costs about $10,000 and is still occassionally overwhelmed, it requires the frequent attention of myself and our sys admins. It does a reasonably good job of servicing the community and yet a good portion of the community would probably like to see us go out of business. The statements of some uninformed members who do not know the full history and the extent of EdgeNet's contributions are particularly disheartening. For some of the newer members, EdgeNet expended all the software development costs to build this site. Roy Riggs is an extremely talented developer who worked for EdgeNet and he was allowed to spend much of his time working on this site because it was a personal interest and paralleled EdgeNet's goals of building the Bondware community product and underlying EASE platform. The result is a special piece of software which will be very difficult and expensive for anyone to replicate regardless of statements to the contrary. To offset some of the expenses of running the site, Roy & I convinced Jack to work with us to launch the Online Store. Again, EdgeNet absorbed all the software development costs which the folks with software backgrounds know is not cheap. The Online Store has the potential to fund the site if embraced by the members. EdgeNet is not a company of artists, but have we invested money, time, and energy to serve the needs of artists? I think the answer is yes. Should EdgeNet benefit from that? Should the community feel any obligation or loyalty as a result of that? You decide. To get back to your question, EdgeNet plans to setup an environment on Renderosity that is governed by the will of the majority of the members. This will happen with member elected moderators, etc. If the community embraces this plan, EdgeNet will continue to participate and grow the community by creating software and providing other resources. If on the other hand, the community members choose not to support the site, not to share their creativity with other members thru this site, not to buy or sell products thru the Online Store, then EdgeNet cannot bear the cost of running this site indefinitely. EdgeNet will have to move on and the community lose a once great resource. Regards, Tim