How do you have group discussions by phone or PM?
Granted you can by e-mail but it's still not easy to follow and those that weren;t invited at the start can't just join in if it becomes relevant to them. A post on a board is a way of getting all that, so you can understand why they happen.
Allowing a group of like minded people to have conversation on a topic is kind of the essence behind bulletin boards. It's a resource because others can also join. An e-mail or PM or phone conversation is not the same nor does it provide the same service.
I think it is a great service to provide and a shame if you do not want to provide it here, but it is the choice of p8 talk to do so as they wish with their forum space.
If the boards were soo busy it got in the way of other valid threads (i.e. it knocked them off the front page) then I can see why you would want to clamp down on it and put a stop to it.
Since the boards are not overly busy I'm not sure why you want to stop people having a resource which they obviously need and use. But if that's the terms dictated to have these boards then so be it.
manike
(oh **** sorry TJ I did say my bit again
)