first point , security ? if what is done here is legal ? what security risk is it to talk with others ?
second point , i did say off board so no bandwidth there , but if the first point was valid about securty then yes i can understand
third point troll attracting ? DUH !! my boards have leechers and spammers and some that spend hours in the shoutbox , including myself , any that break the rules are instantly banned as there are always staff there ( which also covers point one )
fourth point ,,post in thread preventing ? if people are going to post they will anyway , if they are going to post something pointless they will anyway ?

i once belonged to a board with over 30,000 members so i know all the problems involved with running a board with shoutboxes , and i still love them