Posted on 06/23/2006 12:27:30 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
I am not certain what the legal ramifications would be in changing Free Republic from donations to a subscription service. It seems to me the switch may be detrimental to legal issues such as copyrights. If that is true I'd appreciate if someone could briefly explain that to me. However if that is not the case here is my suggestion:
I have been wondering about this for some time now and have not seen any discussions about it. So I would like to ask: Is it time for Free Republic to become an online subscription service?
Currently, the site is very antiquated. People can easily abuse the "add a keyword" feature and there seems to be a growing number of liberal trolls, foreigners and even pro-homosexual agenda-driven people infecting the site. In order to cut down on the undesirables and enhance FR at the same time, would it be advisable to start charging a monthly fee of about 15-30 bucks to be able to log into the site and post? There could also be different subscription levels like Basic, Premium or Platinum. That way, the more you pay the more features you have access to. Some of these extra-services could include storing photos or FR could be a conservative search engine for the web.
I have seen online sites where people can still read the boards for free. FR could do something like that so it would still be accessible to the Conservative public even if they are not paying members with posting priviledges.
Websites that rely heavily on banner and pop-up ads need as many hits as possible so for them restricting posting rights to subscribers might not be so desirable. However, Free Republic does not work like that. There are no ads other than some book links on the home page so the number of hits is not as crucial to the bottom line which is currently being paid for by donations.
Donations seem to be working well, but I am sure the cashflow could be improved. How many of you people honestly are put off donating money to FR because it is not what it should be? Especially in regards to the undesirable element that can be found throughout many of the threads. Wouldn't this change in format go a long way in eliminating the undesirables? I think so. Plus it would be neat to experience an upgraded more modern version of Free Republic.
Note: If you are a democrat troll, foreigner or pro-homosexual/lesbian then I am really not interested in your opinion and you should not be posting it to me (just the fact that I have to add this note is proof that something is not right).
Free Republic should not become Fee Republic. but since this is not your site anyway, it isn't up to you.
Most people love FR the way it is. It is not antiquated and works just fine. You should contact the boss if you have a problem.
*shakes head*
"OK, so now you are not only paranoid (see his webpage anyone with questions), a basher of divorced fathers (your contribution to a recent thread), but a (de facto) tax advocate...
Remind us again why you want to post here????"
Does this mean you don't wanna be President of my fanclub?
And about the "basher of divorced fathers" thing, actually I was bashing "divorced fathers who want to use their divorce as a cheap excuse for favoritism on the job".
...just to let you know. It is at least good to see you have learned to post without getting three consecutive posts pulled. And be glad I don't tell people what was in those posts. You are calling me paranoid? Ha!
Marines. Or Army. My 'bad' kid joined the army, spent a year in Iraq.
WElcome back...
Just ignore them. That works too. No one is forcing you to post to a poster. So what if they post to you. I have a mental list of posters who are idiots. I don't bother with them. This is what makes FR really great, it's the wild west of the internet.
Pity. :)
I wish there was a button to the right of "Report Abuse" that was titled, "Report a Hi-Jacking"....that when selected, would also show the number of times the poster had tried to Hi-Jack a thread.
Amen!
No. Next question.
"One thing I keep lobbying for and would love to see is an "Ignore" button."
Aha yea. At least put me down for that, thank you. :)
Politics has no real clear boundries.
If you pay for it . it is Payrepublic. You think you will get as many hits and information if you go pay per view. I just don' think so keep it what it should be donations for the free press, This is the only free press left!
I'd say just stop your whining.
"Try a conservative version of DU!!"
Could you give me that link? Thank you.
"I would love to be with my FRiends on the 24 rerun thread"
How do I find this thread?
What would the Jack Bauer 24 threads be like with only paying subscribers?
Here's what:
Mine is in no wise "bad." His dad bites his pillow at night, wondering if his journey will take him to the battlefield.
My great respect and thanks to you, your son and your family!
"If FR goes to pay, then how am I to get my daily education in any and all subjects? This sounds kinda socialist, doncha think? Is that how they do things over there?"
Nah, I disagree that it sounds socialist. I think it's very free markety, very businessy, very entrepreneurish, with capitalistic goodness in each and every bite.
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