> Your code was free and open, and the header he removed stated that fact

The header in the source code from the author's site says:

  // This software is the beta version of bwfForum.  It is free for
  // you to use.  You may not modify any of the PHP code without
  // the author's permission.  You may modify the configuration file
  // as needed to get bwfForum to run as designed on your computer.
  // You may not sell or redistribute bwfForum without the author's 
  // permission.  If you would like to use bwfForum on your website,

That's not free and open.