Is Free Republic a Fraud? Is it time for Free Republic to go away?

Free Republic | 11/28/01 | Jim Robinson

[Jim Robinson]

Free Republic has had one helluva run over the last five years or so. We helped impeach one president and helped get another into office. We've been active in demonstrations and protests in nearly every city across the nation. We've participated in conventions, petition drives, activism campaigns and projects for dozens of conservative causes.

We've grown from a tiny web site with a few hundred posters and readers from the time of inception in 1996, to one with tens of thousands of participants today. Along the way we've made lots of great friends and, unfortunately, also made lots of bitter enemies.

We've grown from a small web site that I could manage myself on a part-time basis to a huge monster that has totally consumed all of my time and resources plus nearly all of John's time, plus the time and resources of many dedicated FReepers who volunteer or contribute large amounts of their own time and money.

The site is now consuming all of a 10 mbps dedicated line with two servers and we're still growing, and it consumes large amounts of money to keep all this running. In the early years, it only took a few thousand dollars per month to keep Free Republic on the air, but it is now costing over $20,000 per month to cover all expenses.

The major costs include approximately $8,000 per month for bandwidth, 3,000 for systems management and programming services, 7,000 for management, operating and administrative services, plus two or three thousand per month for miscellaneous office expenses, telephone, communications, repairs & maintenance, travel & lodging, postage, rentals, insurance, legal fees, accounting fees, etc., etc.

We anticipate a reduction in bandwidth costs next year as we renegotiate our contract (the market price for bandwidth has fallen recently), however, that will be more than offset by an expected increase in costs of our legal expenses. As most of you know, our pro bono attorney has left us and we've hired a new attorney to continue with our case, plus we have the suit against eschoir to pay for. My projections are that our regular monthly expenses for next year will be running in the neighborhood of $22,000 per month, or approximately $264,000 total for the year. This means we will need to raise approximately $66,000 per quarter.

Talking about making enemies, we've got several ex-FReepers and other detractors who are claiming on their anti-freeper web sites that I am ripping off the donors and that Free Republic is a fraud. Now, Free Republic is what it is, and it is definitely not a fraud. It is a conservative news discussion forum that encourages participation in politics and activism projects. It is not being billed as anything else. We are not selling or promising anything. And I am being up front about our operating costs. The costs of running Free Republic are what I've stated above and they are necessary to keep FR on the air. I do not have the financial wherewithal to operate this site without your help. If the majority of the FReepers feel that these costs are out of line or too much to bear or that Free Republic is no longer wanted or needed, then we will either cut it back or shut it down or do something altogether different.

I've also been criticized about not making our financials public. Well, the reason I do not want to do this is that I have been sued, both personally and as Free Republic, LLC. The people suing us want to bankrupt us and shut us down. They subpoenaed our financial records, but we refused to turn them over. The judge agreed that the plaintiffs have no right to the information, thus I have no intention of making any more of it public than I absolutely have to, until this lawsuit is resolved. You all know the amounts of money we raise if you follow the fundraising threads. It is all above board and out in the open. The totals posted by BadJoe are usually pretty close to the actual cash received and the amounts expended are pretty close to the amounts projected. No one is getting rich here and no one is being ripped off. The funds raised are being used for the purposes stated, and that is keeping this website on the air and that's it. Nothing fraudulent about it. Those who want to help fund us freely do so with nothing expected in return. Those who do not want to contribute do not have to.

There was a thread running this morning where people were making all kinds of accusations about Free Republic "hiding the truth" or whatever. These accusations are being made by Chuck Allan and others and fall along the same line with the accusations being made by some of the earlier banees or AFers including Mojo, Inspector Harry Callahan, Arator, keep U.S. Sovereign, TKEman and others. Some of these people are existing FReepers and some are banned. I am going to reinstate Mojo, Inspector Harry Callahan and Arator's accounts so they can join Chuck Allan, TKEman, K.U.S.S. and whomever else wants to get involved, and I invite them to come onto this thread and make their accusations public. As long as they do not go onto other threads and make a nuisance of themselves, I will let them have their say.

Like I said above, if it is time for Free Republic to go away so be it. Those who want to keep it going speak up. Those who want it to go away, tell us why. But if those who want it to be gone lose out in the debate, then I'd say they should just go away themselves, or, in the very least, shut up and quit whining about it.

Thanks,

Jim

[auggy]

I would be lost without Free Republic. Do what you have to do, to keep it on the air. You should not have to worry financially, about this site. I certainly, wouldn't. Get the money anyway that you can. I would gladly pay a monthly fee.

Merry Christmas, Jim.

[beowolf]

Hiya Jim,

I finally waded all of the way through post #1371 (the latest as I type), and it seems to me the vote is definitely in favor of continuing to being a going concern.

There hasn't been a single substantiated accusation of fraud by anyone...including the banned that are allowed to post to this thread. The questions that they pose about the finances are, in their minds, valid ones. I have entertained questions like these myself, at times. In my case, I realize that it is a compulsion to know something that I don't. I also know that it is not my business as my 'stake' in FR is simply as a contributor/user.

A point that has been raised that does concern me is the 'moderators'. I would vote, that if a thread is deleted; the original article be preserved (not the following posts), no further comment be allowed, and the 'moderator' insert a comment immediately after the article on why the thread was deleted. This may clear up a lot of confusion and resentment on the part of the thread's participants. The posters that caused the thread to be deleted should be named in the 'moderators' comment so that everyone else, that participated on the thread, is not left wondering if they caused it to be pulled.

Just some ideas, Jim.

Regards, as always

Beowolf

[Cyber Liberty]

Are you still using state-owned computer equipment and internet services to send threatening emails? Why don't you post your new addy for all of us to enjoy....

[summer]

Hi Arator, I thought you said you wanted to move to Afghanistan? JUST KIDDING! :)

[TLBSHOW]

Good look at the kooks that start web sites to watch Freerepublic. Thanks for the link and get a life. Oh how many web sites are there watching FR? Must be a thing huh?

As you can see here we don't care and instead should FReep your spew but Good! Wait I do that now.

[Mudboy Slim]

"If you should decide to do an IPO...Put Me down for 1000 shares..."

Yep...FR, Inc. would definitely become part of my portfolio and would be a Long-Term Growth Stock with an unlimited upside. Folks like to find out The Truth, and despite all the Trolls and anti-FReepers, The Truth is the Product that FreeRepublic.com relentlessly provides in droves!!

FReegards...MUD

[kennyo]

AOL??????????????????????????

[an amused spectator]

Interesting theory.

Care to make a little wager?

I doubt the court system will agree.

The people who run the court system are not known for their computer acumen. They're going to get rolled bigtime on this one. Remember, the court system "didn't agree" on Dred Scott, and how many people had to die to rectify THAT stupidity? ;-)

[Howlin]

He can't. It's his "thang." He lives for this crap.

[davidosborne]

Jim,

We had our differences a few months back in reference to my screen name, and someones accusation that my only purpose for participating in discussions was to "fish for hits on my personal website"

I agreed to change my screen name to a less "offensive" one, and I trust that I have participated enough to show that I have no other motives than participating, and andvancing the "conservative" cause....

I will do what I can help you out financially, and I thank you for your service.. no other site on the internet comes close to accomplishing the mission... God Bless.. and Let's keep FREEREPULIC alive

A small "posting fee" is certainly NOT unreasonable....

David C. Osborne (For U.S. Senate in 2004)

[Fiddlstix]

My thoughts too :)

[Mudboy Slim]

"Actually, I am the person that I refer to in this post."

LOL...you, ma'am, are a Liar, a Troll, and a FRaud and I expect it won't be long before clicking on yer Screen Name will result only in a "The is no FReeper by that name."

Enjoy it while it lasts, Newbie Twit...MUD

BTW...gonna sue me, too, fer callin' you a "Twit"?! LOL!!!

[Howlin]

Spoken like a true liberal loser.

[Inspector Harry Callahan]

What is your native language?

[Mudboy Slim]

"My thoughts, too"

I always had you pegged as a Wise FReeper...)8^D!!

FReegards...MUD

[fallclassicus]

Enjoy the web site or the money that you will soon be sending me?

[elfman2]

…At this point, FR cannot do any of these things [ads] without violating it's FAIR USE claim in the lawsuit. It's been gone over many times…

Thanks for clearing some of that up. What about the Fair Use claim prohibits ads? I would have expected it to be more dependent on the nature of the site itself and/or the corporate structure of the company. If FR was a 501(C)(3) non-profit instead of an LLP, wouldn’t that make any difference? tia

[Arator]

And for you to defend JenLart is highly amusing; what a vile poster she is; she's caused trouble on every forum she's ever been on; even this one; is she STILL a good friend of yours, even after all the nasty things she's said about you.

Your cognition problem continues. My enforcement of our posting rules against personal attacks at that time in deference to JenLart's sensibilities as a member in good standing of our forum hardly constitutes a blanket defense of JenLart. In fact, I agree with you. She proved herself to be a most vile poster. It wasn't long before she fractured into a host of multiple ID'd multiple personalities and was a significant contributor to the troll chaos which was soon to transform a once civilized FReeper Reunion into barbarian Troll Town.

In retrospect, knowing now what I know about her unstable posting personality, I think that JenLart herself was probably the fake Howlin, among others. She is one sick puppy.

Are far as wanting to call you a liar again, you're right.

You forgot the part about you being a fraud.

Yep, I figured as much. And it is exactly that style of posting which made that fake Howlin so hard to distinguish from the real one. ;^)

[Z2]

Yeah, drop right in 'SHOW, and regale us with plugs for your radio show. Who's the talent scout for that deal, anyway? Do you have any idea how much it costs, or how it gets funded?

Thanks in advance!