How come Requests is getting removed?

The last time the forum faced the axe people simply posted request threads in any forum they could find. I can see it happening again.

So it makes me think that third party intervention may have something to do with it. Are there concerns that the forum is associated with pirating by companies we publish for?

It's a decision I made, it wasn't prompted by any specific event. I think it's time for it go as it's mainly a way to help people get unlicensed content. For new users who only know us as a legitimate publisher, it would confuse them to see a Requests forum that isn't related to the work we're actually doing (books and magazines) that they would be requesting.