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I am very disappointed to learn about this, and yet at the same time I understand it. Still, it does beg the question, why is this Talk it Up section to "Talk about almost anything" here?

Obviously, the key words here are "almost anything" when it comes down to it. Perhaps those key words should actually read, "anything the owner of this forum allows" to be more honest about it.

As for freedom of speech, that's not really the issue when it comes to an open source project. The issue is whether or not the exchange of ideas can be freely discussed, which of course intuitively includes discussions concerning management policies, staff, or members of YaBB's official forum. 

This kind or privatization has always been the bane of YaBB's growth, which is arguably the main reason YaBB ended up failing in terms of maintaining its number one position as forum software. It's a shame, too, because YaBB would otherwise have so much more potential. As it is now, and as it seems this will also be its future, YaBB's development, and support is an endeavor of only a handful of people who don't seem to fully understand, or appreciate what an open source project should be, and how it should be honored. YaBB has become a very private endeavor.

Obviously, time will tell if my voice will be silenced as it has been for so many others who've previously participated in YaBB's official forum, and are now gone.