Bob, I understand your sentiment, and I was not sure I had anything to add to this conversation, as it has covered many aspects of this from many angles, but I would say that the one thing that strikes me is this.
He came on here, owned up, and took his consequences publicly. Being an online forum, nothing ties anyone to this place short of the owners/moderators. He could just as easily have cut and run, just disappearing, and that would have been the easy thing to do. I think that since the actions had such a public and noticeable affect on the auctions, what caused it would have certainly come out, but I would bet that the team would have done everything they could to protect the real identity of this person. So to me, coming here and publicly stating what he has admitted to shows that he values his ability to be a member on this forum.
There is quite a bit of psychology behind the stages of owning up to one's transgressions, and it is very common for these revelations to happen over time, so I am not bothered by the fact that he may not have come clean on EVERYTHING right away, as I'm aware of how the mind protects itself in situations like this.
In my life there have been situations where I have unconditionally forgiven people for their actions (and had the same done for me) and times when I have decided for my own interests that I had to sever ties with someone for what they have done. These were always very personal decisions based on many factors.
An online community like this is not a single person, so I think the Admin team decided well in giving a fixed punishment, and allowing him to return afterwards if that is his choice. It is up to the individual members to decide the lasting effects of his actions. Some will write him off, put him on the ignore list, never respond to him, etc. I don't think anyone can blame them for that. Some will forgive him and go on, giving him a clean slate and taking the chance that they may be burned again, maybe with a little more attention being paid to putting them in the position to be burned. I am this type of person, and I accept the fact that it is my fault if I allow myself to get burned by him in the future.
I would never tell people how to behave toward another person in a situation like this, as I understand that each person's life history affects how they react in these situations, but I would hope that the members who feel strongly about this situation and feel he should not have been able to return can find it in themselves to just leave him alone when and if he returns. His return would validate the value of this place to him (it won't be easy for him, nor should it be), but I would hate to see people constantly bringing this situation into everything he gets involved in. As a community we need to move forward.
