: : : : So you're saying Bill Gates is Sauron once again taken in shape?

: : : I can't take credit for that idea.

: :
: : To go back to Gandalfs point, I also am unsure why the Three lose their power, however the power to recreate the feat DOES exist.
: : Example, the Ancient Greeks had the knowledge of Steam Power, but the intelligencia (Aristocracy) were too lazy to do any work, and the slaves did not understand the concept, so it never got explored - howver the knowledge did not die with the Greeks, it resurfaced 1500 or so years later in the Industrial Revolution. The same goes for Iraq in the 12th Century and Batteries.
: : Therefire there is no reason, given enough study, an Elf, Man , Hobbit or Dwarf could not make a new set of rings - just go and investigate the ruins of Eregion and go from there.....

: YES! Thank you.
: So there is intelligence out there after all!
: The point which i was trying to make, which you picked up on, was that the power of the rings were not tied solely to Sauron. He merely helped Celembrimbor discover the way to channel them. Thus, it seems rediculous that the Three, which predates the One, should fade if Sauron perishes...

: Gandalf

Please define "fade". I am not aware of the rings fading away. They just stopped working. I agree that the reasoning behind the lesser rings not working after the One Ring was destroyed is scant, but all we have to go on his Tolkien's own explanation. The Three Rings, though not touched by Sauron were made according to his instructions. Somehow this tied them to the One. How this was done is unknown. The bottom line is that Tolkien said it was so, and like it or not that the way it is.