my opinion on liberty skis is purly based on me holding them and flexing them in the shop. to me they seemed extreamly stiff and ridged compared to the other skis in the shop fujis, kharma, last season 1260s, even the 1080's seemed softer to flex. although i havent ridden on a pair so i dont know about how they feel on the snow. in other words, i would tend to agree with you on your first point.
on your other point about independent companines i have a different view.  i currently ride on a pair of last season 4FRNT STL's and i aboslutly love them. granted i probably dont ride as hard as most other skiers (i almost never do rails and rarely do boxes as i am just learning them) but before this pair i owned some Salomon 1080's, with the S912 binding.  first off, my 1080s delamed twice (remember, im just learning rails which means i NEVER hit any rails/boxes with my 1080s), and the S912s would repeatedly pre-release, not to mention the weight of the binding.
my 4frnts, after about a month of boxes (and like 3-4 total rails) last season and 3 times this season i have seen absolutly no wear-n-tear. granted i havent been riding them on the boxes/rails for very long, but compared to my 1080s which delamed with no rail/box use, ill take my 4frnts any day. as to my bindings i have some look p12s, and i love them, i have never had a pre-release and they seem (i havent tested or looked up weights to compare with the s912) much lighter.