If you've decided to do something dirty, sneaky, or underhanded, then the dialog on this forum should be required reading on how
not to handle user questions. Any large software company experienced in being routinely evil would have done the following:
- shut down that thread at the first opportunity (it's their own forum so they are able to do that)
- as a corollary to the above, always run your own forums for questions, support, fandom, etc. so you can kill threads, guide the conversation, ban users, or redesign the site giving cover for losing history that you don't want remembered
- ban that particular user who was giving the best analysis; a real reason is not necessary -- just allege that he violated the terms & conditions
- have someone preview all questions and comments before they get posted in your forum; you know how some sites say, "Your comment is awaiting moderation"? -- you need to do that
- never give official answers to any questions (the founder and original developer was replying in his own name); instead, always reply as a fellow user, knowledgeable and helpful, but allowing the company a way to disown any replies given out
- don't even bother to reply to questions you don't want to answer; just ignore them (the current thread would surely have died out if the founder had not given those silly obfuscating answers); you can compose a crafty reply only if it becomes a big problem
- have a bunch of fake users (employees, PR department, outsourced agents) ready to pounce on, rebut, or ridicule the user providing the good analysis; similarly, have those fake users guide the discussion or completely change the topic
Some large software companies get away with far worse tricks and shenanigans, affecting millions of users, by following the principles above.