too2shy
Somebody from MERB created a new board. To promote it, they spammed every members with PM advertizing that new board. It's kind of like a Ford sales guy going into a GM showroom and stealing customers, isn't it? Fred was probably worried, rightfully, about the sponsors/users getting picked-out from his board by somebody using his ressources. The guys who created this new board were banned from MERB.
Usually, in any forums, you can talk about other web sites, as long as they don't compete with the one you are using to talk about them. I have seen that policy in many places and it's not censorship, it's only protecting the owner's interest. If you have a competitor, will you help him steal your customers?