I think fundamentally ChemSpider is an amazingly powerful resource for the chemistry community (and beyond) and will become increasingly so in the years to come. My gut feeling would be to do what’s best for Chemspider and hang external opinions that conflict with that basic concept. That way if Chemspider is strong and provides a useful service to the community then given your dedication and the dedication of your advisory board it will survive the blogospheric slings and arrows and the pressures from outside (non)users with their own political agendas.

db