In reply to Justin Tadlock.

Thats why i wrapped exploiting in quotes - I'm not sure thats the right word. I know, if I was developing a theme, that became that popular, and I saw an opportunity to earn some more money - by using affiliate-filters, I would feel like I'm doing something "bad" when you look at it from an ethical perspective. Therefore I would feel like I'm "exploiting" a gap in the system - it's not written in the rules, but it's not ethically correct imo.

I know that the Themes Team didn't back out - but what would have happened if the author didn't complain about the decision, and just update his theme. Do you think they would lift the ban? I'm not sure...