This is interesting stuff. A number of people at my school do research on online communities - who participates, why, why the communities develop, are maintained or fade away, etc. This isn't just an academic interest - firms also have researchers determining who's in their online communities and why.
Damn, I may have to revise my proposal...
During the post-2000-election hijack by Al Gore, I became ADDICTED to the MSNBC bulletin board having to do with the election. I was "Grasshopper."
About half-way through the whole deal, I discovered Free Republic and ABANDONED MSNBC.
It would have been so much easier on me if I'd discovered FR sooner.
"Damn, I may have to revise my proposal..."
Uhhhh ..... head, you just might have more of a legal problem on your hands. I'm not a lawyer, but my guess is legitimate.