It also wouldn't hurt to put yourselves in the shoes of the etherpad owners who had to sell out. Maybe they wouldn't have if the fans had ponied up for the pro account.
Had they said pay us a few bucks or go without then perhaps I'd pay, but when they say pay us a bunch for a service you don't need just so that the service you do need remains free for everyone, it becomes a lot harder to whip out that credit card.
Even if everyone on HN who used etherpad paid them they'd still find "low 8 digits" pretty dang compelling.