The WBTV/John Wells Productions/DCP execs involved aren't quite the people I was referring to when I mentioned someone going on record. There are certainly members within DS fandom who would indeed know if the pilot is dead or not. And I think you and I both know that those same people have been contacted and that they have not confirmed the status of the pilot one way or another in as many words. I doubt anyone would argue against the idea that they're well aware of the fact that fans are indeed sitting on the edges of their seats waiting for news. And in their cases, the intellectual understanding and fundemental respect, or lack thereof, that you are probably right about in terms of at least some of the execs isn't quite at play.
Now, of course, it could be a simple case that these people within fandom have their hands tied and they're not actually allowed, for whatever reason, to reveal that the pilot is dead. Perhaps for some reason that we're not aware, that news can't come out until the 18th or after. But there is also that slim chance that the reason they don't comment is because the ultimate fate of the pilot is still in flux.