We just found a legit reason to have multiple accounts, thus there is no long a reason for you to assume having multiple accounts or engaging in account trades must always result in spam or scam. That would make it reasonable to remove the ratings you left with that reasoning.
This is inadequate reasoning for a removal of ratings on extreme account farmers and/or sold accounts. When did we switch subject to this now?
Which make your negative ratings a generalization.
Wrong, unless you're talking about other ratings. The spammers that received their ratings did not receive them on a whim.
At the very least you have to believe they reduce spam.
I do believe that it affects individuals, yes. To say that it had an 'significant effect' on spam would be an exaggeration. This will not be true unless it this was done by multiple people and on a much bigger scale.
Thats still not a reason to use the trust system as a moderation tool. The end does not justify the means.
I think that in certain situations the end does justify the means. I will not argue whether the usage of the trust system is not justified or not, as people have differentiating and often absolute stances on that.
Yes, create enough threads in meta or PMs to make sure there is a need to solve this. If its not working, move on.
How do you "move on" from a persistent/unresolved issue that has an effect on you in one way or another?