It’s a long-simmering opinion held by a decent number of regulars here though, nothing really new. The idea of preserving a film for future generations without also distributing it to people in the present rubs them the wrong way. And I get it, they’re fans and they want it now. Hey, so do I. And it’s weird, so kill it with fire.
The very moment this project started, when Mike very clearly and unambiguously announced “…aaaand nobody’s going to actually be able to see this thing unless Lucasfilm explicitly allows it”, people started complaining. “Put up or shut up” was a common refrain. My own initial reaction wasn’t so charitable, to be honest – it was something along the lines of “Yeah, I see you’re preserving history and bully for you, those future generations, and your ethical high ground, but… why exactly are you here? Is it to tease us, to brag, or both?”
Since then I’ve learned that Mike has been an extraordinarily helpful member of this community, whose contributions most certainly dwarf my own, even if they’re often not as apparent to the average viewer. His inactivity here makes me sad not because we’ll never see his contribution, but because his long history of meaningful contributions will have stopped.