> One poster disappeared after he challenged his opponent to a sword-fighting duel ...

Point of fact, those threats (and there were a good half dozen of them) were made in late July 2004 by William Sanders.
When I traded messages with Michel over this, I was given a reply about "context" and the amount of research it would take. I did not agree with lifetime bans, but definitely thought Sanders had more than deserved measurable time in the penalty box.

Aside from a few supporting posts from folks like Jos Pols, most of the Fox community said very little over a person making multiple threats about boarding a plane for Allentown PA to meet up in real life at 5 AM for a sword duel. When I asked one VFP stalwart about it, the reply was, "Well, what would you like me to say?"

Sanders was ultimately banned in early September 2004, only after some vulgar exchanges, and only when Michael saw an opportunity to ban JVP at the same time.