I disagree with respect. I see the Special Edition as a fundamentally different film trilogy. Its like a remake.
Well you might disagree and see it as a “fundamentally different film” all you want, but that does not change the fact that legally it is not. Fox would still get the profit for no effort and therefore had nothing to do with the original version not being released. If Lucas wanted to put the effort to restore the original version, Fox would be happy to take the free profit from it.