I just spoke to a Sr. Staff member and according to him, threads that rail about problems that the network has without offering any viable solution are automatically locked. So that's a new thing I didn't know about. Something to think about.
I really can't argue with this assessment of Charlie's response. I dislike the fact that staff members may lock threads because of potential flame. How will people ever be able to discuss things? In an argument, there is always potential for flame - it's a fact of conflict. Just because there is an argument or discussion happening doesn't mean the thread should be locked.
See, this is the type of stuff that gets threads locked.