user63: Recently there was this question asking about now defunct "thesubwire.com" site the aggregates manga, anime, and light novel updates, but it has since closed down for reasons unknown. 
Are questions about these websites (such as the one mentioned above) and/or their communities (i.e. question pertaining to specific events, people, or news from Nico Nico, 2ch, and/or 4ch) considered on-topic? If so, how should we tag them? To what extent do we allow questions such as these?

user63: The conclusion we've reach on this particular question is that since it is a question concerning fan-translations, the referenced question is considered off-topic.
As for question about specific anime/manga-related site, we'll review them on a case-to-case basis for now. Some might be considered on-topic (e.g., questions about Crunchyroll's anime lineup) while others might be considered off-topic (e.g., questions about what happens on 2/4ch).
As a side note, resource requests are allowed on the main site using the resource tag.

user24: One thing that should be made clear is that our policy against fansubs is not for legal reasons (e.g. copyright). Stack Exchange employees monitor copyright claims, and it's neither the job of the community nor the moderators here to do that. We can ban discussion of fansubs on the main site, but this is done because they're off-topic and don't maintain a professional image, not because they're illegal. We can actually put SE in some legal hot water if we are too enthusiastic about trying to enforce legal restrictions on the site, so it's best to leave all legal issues up to them directly.
With regards to this question, I think it fails on this count because it's specifically asking about fansubs. Despite that, there are sites, like MAL, which would seemingly constitute valid answers and don't seem to be violating any laws. However, my biggest problem with questions like this is that it opens us up to essentially any question about any anime site, which isn't really what I think we're here for. This gets in to a fuzzy area, namely what the borders are of resource request questions, which is why I would have preferred for such questions to be held on meta rather than on the main site (see this question). I don't have an answer to what the boundary should be for such questions, but this one is clearly over it in my opinion.
Update: After rereading the question, I'll mention that there is a perfectly valid closely related question, namely "What databases of anime series exist?". If the references to thesubwire were removed (most notably "Does anyone know what happened to this site?" which is off-topic, but it would probably be good to remove the other references to avoid confusion also), and the parts of the question about showing translation updates (which violates the above policy) were removed, then I think it would be okay as a resource question, and probably more useful the the majority of people.

63: <p>Recently there was <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/q/4591/63">this question</a> asking about now defunct "thesubwire.com" site the aggregates manga, anime, and light novel updates, but it has since closed down for reasons unknown. </p>

<p>Are questions about these websites (such as the one mentioned above) and/or their communities (i.e. question pertaining to specific events, people, or news from Nico Nico, 2ch, and/or 4ch) considered on-topic? If so, how should we tag them? To what extent do we allow questions such as these?</p>
 63: <p>The conclusion we've reach <strong>on this particular question</strong> is that since it is a question concerning fan-translations, the <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/q/4591/63">referenced question</a> is <strong>considered off-topic.</strong></p>

<p>As for question about specific anime/manga-related site, we'll review them on a case-to-case basis for now. Some might be considered on-topic (e.g., questions about Crunchyroll's anime lineup) while others might be considered off-topic (e.g., questions about what happens on 2/4ch).</p>

<p>As a side note, resource requests <a href="https://anime.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/474/how-should-we-handle-posts-containing-anime-manga-resources">are allowed</a> on the main site using the <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/resource" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;resource&#39;" rel="tag">resource</a> tag.</p>
 24: <p>One thing that should be made clear is that our policy against fansubs is <strong>not for legal reasons</strong> (e.g. copyright). Stack Exchange employees monitor copyright claims, and it's neither the job of the community nor the moderators here to do that. We can ban discussion of fansubs on the main site, but this is done because they're off-topic and don't maintain a professional image, not because they're illegal. We can actually put SE in some legal hot water if we are too enthusiastic about trying to enforce legal restrictions on the site, so it's best to leave all legal issues up to them directly.</p>

<p>With regards to this question, I think it fails on this count because it's specifically asking about fansubs. Despite that, there are sites, like MAL, which would seemingly constitute valid answers and don't seem to be violating any laws. However, my biggest problem with questions like this is that it opens us up to essentially any question about any anime site, which isn't really what I think we're here for. This gets in to a fuzzy area, namely what the borders are of resource request questions, which is why I would have preferred for such questions to be held on meta rather than on the main site (see <a href="https://anime.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/474/how-should-we-handle-posts-containing-anime-manga-resources">this question</a>). I don't have an answer to what the boundary should be for such questions, but this one is clearly over it in my opinion.</p>

<p><strong>Update:</strong> After rereading the question, I'll mention that there is a perfectly valid closely related question, namely "What databases of anime series exist?". If the references to thesubwire were removed (most notably "Does anyone know what happened to this site?" which is off-topic, but it would probably be good to remove the other references to avoid confusion also), and the parts of the question about showing translation updates (which violates the above policy) were removed, then I think it would be okay as a resource question, and probably more useful the the majority of people.</p>
