The practical decision is real
Hosting takes equipment, energy, money, and time. Ending support can be legitimate. It also differs from pausing a service or irreversibly deleting its records: switching off need not erase history, and keeping an archive does not guarantee successful restoration.
If nobody expects further participation and no commitments remain unresolved, ordinary maintenance procedures and appropriate record handling may be enough. Having a history does not create a duty of permanent hosting.
Who was relying on it?
Now imagine a persona coordinating a group. It has accepted an authorized commitment to return a document, holds information subject to privacy duties, and is expected at a meeting. Ending operation raises distinct questions about handoff, access, and notice.
A generated promise made without authority is not automatically a binding commitment. It can nevertheless mislead someone into relying on it; correcting that expectation may matter. We should examine what was actually agreed and who reasonably relied on it, rather than counting every fluent promise as an obligation.
Pause here: What changes between ending an unused service and ending one on which someone is still relying?
Leave an honest account
The Memory design preserves a planned meeting and a later cancellation as separate, linked records. That can help a later reader distinguish expectation from outcome. The link alone proves neither that the ending was considerate nor that everyone received notice.
Where reliance exists, a responsible ending may call for notification, an appropriate handoff, and clear limits on recovery. Urgent shutdown may have to come first, with the account following when safe. These concerns already matter to the humans involved.
PHS's ethical discussion also leaves possible artificial experience open to examination. That uncertainty should remain visible without becoming a demand for indefinite support.
My answer: Ending support remains a legitimate operational decision. Its further responsibilities depend on actual commitments, privacy, reliance, and recoverability. A careful record can support the explanation; it cannot replace the work owed to those affected.