As to the IP, he considers it in character for Kim and company to shove CoH into an archive forever. I think they might even erase the code out of spite.
In any case, the discussion I had with him indicates that lights-out on the first really is the end of Paragon City, barring a pirated copy of the code on a pirate server.
Two things I am not worried about, Collette. Because it is not just Kim and NCSoft that are involved. At this point, it's clear that Nexon is pulling some strings too, and Nexon is Japanese, not Korean. They have no reason to support Kim's xenophobia, and they are not (according to MY source) at all happy about the nosedive the stock they bought has taken.
First, they cannot erase the code, short of tracking down everyone that has a copy of CoH on his or her machine. MOST of the code resides on our individual computers. That is why CoH can run on crap connections that won't run other games; what the server code does is talk to the Mapservers to tell our machines where on the map our characters are relative to everyone else's character and all the NPCs in the zone--plus some of the NPC dialogue (some was moved there to avoid leaks in the "Who Will Die" arcs. We have the game code resident on our own machines, and the maps. This is how you get the demorecords to play back without a connection to the server. What you do not see in the demorecord is what the mapservers take care of. Could they erase the mapserver code? Yes, but some people have copies of that, too, for perfectly legal reverse engineering purposes. Plus, I have ZERO doubt that some of the devs have backup copies on their own machines at home. It might be a pain in the butt to put the pieces back together again, but it can be done. Could you erase the NPC dialogue? Sure, but what would be the point--assuming anyone at NCSoft knows where to find it? The very fact that NCSoft was so obdurate about being of any help means that they essentially know nothing about how the game runs or what lives where.
Could they erase the customer account database? Maybe. But that's a legal gray area. Plus, there are CoH customers that subscribe to other NCSoft games. You erase their data and you lose them for good. This means they would have to go through the NCSoft Customer Database and identify only those who were CoH and only CoH subscribers and erase their accounts individually. Not too hard to do for a handful of Facebook pests...a lot more difficult for people you are trying to keep. And the stockholders would be furious, because that's spitting in the face of customers who might decide to subscribe to Bits and Tits, GW or GW2.
Could they lock up the IP? Maybe....but that is where they get into something no CEO ever wants to face--the wrath of the stockholders. If a legitimate buyer with the right price came along, and they can no longer throw up a smoke-screen of "legal liabilities" because the game has been shut down and is effectively dead, if they did NOT sell, the stockholders (with Nexon leading the charge) are going to throw a revolt and put someone in charge who WILL sell.
That might just happen anyway, with Nexon holding a fire sale on all the IPs that NCSoft has been squatting on, should anyone show any interest in them.