It looks like from the response that you guys need to start your own website since you cant get along with this one. That is a pity because Ive read some good posts by all of you. Let me know if you do, I'd like to check it out.
Posted on 11/28/2001 7:31:29 PM PST by 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
How ya been?
(English accent) Well put! Hear, hear!!
Ash was much more fun to converse with, offline.
I think the true freepers will stay and pay for the forum, members only!
I've been thinking about this all day, Billie, and I agree that some kind of regular fee might be the key to solving the financial problems without strapping individuals with in inordinate amount of work.
I certainly am willing to pay more than $1/month for this incredible experience, and I would hope that everyone else is too.
You know, I'll do just that when I get some time. Or maybe I'll bump it over at our place and you can drop in and discuss it with us. It will probably be right after Jim gets around to answering all the questions I've posed for him to enable the FReepers to evaluate his credibility. That was a generous invitation that grew into quite a fundraising opportunity!
And thanks for asking!
#1 and #3 look simple to solve. Regarding #2, the following is from the regs from what Liberal Classic posted in #1497:
(c) (3) (h)), and which does not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.Did FR formally endorse a presidential candidate? If so, I don't see any great loss from refraining from doing so in the future. I think FR's mission statement mentions "conservative" but not Republican. Aren't similarly biased (or oppositely biased) organizations structured as non-profits?
You got it, no more useless sitcoms or mindless medical dramas for me. FR is exercise for my brain, something which far too many people get WAY too little of IMHO.
MKM
When I'm not promoting FR activism here in the Philly area, I try to improve the site by fielding science questions. Where would I take my science writing if it weren't for FR? I spend a lot of time, sometimes, polishing answers and looking up information for FR science threads, but I can't see myself doing that--certainly not to the degree that I do--for another website or newsgroup where I don't care for the readers as I do here.
The esteem in which I hold the vast majority of Freepers makes me a better poster, and I'm sure that's true of many others here. If FR goes away, that invisible salutary influence will go along with it.
Actually, to borrow another line from Dr Murray Bank's old "WHAT TO DO UNTIL THE PSYCHIATRIST COMES," I believe such folk are basically saying:
And when their addiction to manipulated attention is perceived by them to sag, they get more shrill and obnoxious . . . actually reminding me of Shrillfanny and Billdoe.
Maybe we could begin a refrain of merely replying:
WATCH ME, MOMMY, WATCH ME!
whenever they rear their ugly finger work.
I was just reminded of another question:
What ever happened to the Free Republic Institute? Remember when you donated the first $5,000 and encouraged others to give $5,000 each? How much money was raised and what ever happened to it? Is FR Institute still an entity? If not, was the money ever returned to the donors, including yourself?
Thanks in advance.
It looks like from the response that you guys need to start your own website since you cant get along with this one. That is a pity because Ive read some good posts by all of you. Let me know if you do, I'd like to check it out.
I'd like to point out one little thing in this debate concerning banning, censorship, etc...
If you dont like what someone says you can
But all of you who think these posters should be banned, WONT will you? No, because we all like to DEBATE, dont we? No - we LOVE it..and thats why most of us are here, c'mon people like to argue so...
The WORST you can do is IGNORE someone. IF any of you kept posting and NEVER got a reply, never got a answer or a ping - HOW LONG WOULD YOU STAY???
Banning a poster just forces them to return under a different handle, anyone can.
So whats the point of banning a poster? None. If anyone is really hated on FR they should be ignored. I dont think anyone should ever be BANNED from any discussion forum.
That's my take.
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