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
ROFL!! This reminds me of the "Tater incident". Remember that?
HAHAHAHA!!!
Do you ever read the words you write? You seem like an intelligent person, so why such hyperbolic nonsense about an Internet site that wouldn't allow you to post?
Since, barring significant changes in FR's moderation policies, this will be my last post to FR, I leave you all with links to some of my censored samizdat advocating FReeper freedom:
519 posted on 11/29/01 1:43 AM Eastern by Arator
Promises, promises!
FR is big business and with that, there will be problems and some very nasty ones at that. I state the obvious, not to oversimplify, but to point to the following facts:
1) Several have tried a FR like setup on the Internet. Name one, on any side of the ideological spectrum, that has been as successful, when measured in quality and quantity of news and other postings, number of members and amount of donations.
2) Contrary to some, FR is fairly forgiving when it comes to those who post with opinions counter to those normally found on FR. Try disagreeing on DU or one some of the other Conservative web sites and see how fast you are booted.
3) FR was conceived at the grass roots level and is supported by donations. I have never known JimRob et al to not respond to suggestions, comments, etc on how to make FR a better experience. I do know that for those who just cannot agree with some of the FR policies, do not post or contribute, etc. Visiting a web-site or making donations does not entitle you to the same rights as say, for example, a shareholder in a corporation.
There are disruptors in any venture where people congregate, be it FR, or hubcap collecting or cheese conventions. We should not let disruptors do just that - disrupt. FR serves a useful purpose and I hope it continues to do so for some time.
I thank JimRob, JohnRob, the Moderators (who have a thankless job) and so many others who provide time and sweat and money to help keep FR running.
Eschoir was a problem way before I came into this forum.
Your bashing helps exactly nothing, including restoring this site to its original glory.
I am answering two questions that were solicited by the owner of this site. I answered them honestly. I don't think the site can be restored because
1. Times change and people come and go. Today's issues are not yesterdays issues.
2. The original core of conservative Republicans were alienated from this site. That included Matt Drudge (Who delinked the place) and Lucy Goldburg who had invested a lot of her time to this site. It also includes the Don Morgan's, Navigator's, Bostons, and Mojo's whose only sin was that they actually LIKE the constitution we already have and happen to have found George Bush prefferable to Al Gore in early 1999.
There have been bad decisions made regarding the LAT/WP lawsuits and the Eschoir action.
Exactly, and I don't think it ius unpatriotic of me to simply say " I am not going to pay for those mistakes".
Some of the players were less than honorable, and the results certainly not what we desired. But Jim Robinson was, is, and always has been an honest man who took on the establishment with his bare knuckles. If he got beaten, we all got beaten. Freedom got beaten. The Constitution got beaten. And our Republic got beaten.
I do not have a strong linkage in my mind between the integrity of our Constitution and institutions and the financial success of Free Republic.
For you to glory in that defeat, or to slink away in fear shows your moral mettle. Thank God Jim had more guts than you.
I don't glory in its defeat. I have followed this saga, on and off, for over two years. It is a very interesting soap opera. I enjoy the site, I just do not politically identify with it quite like I did when I joined it in 1998.
If he needs help patching the bullet holes he took for us,
How did he take a bullet for you? I really am curious.
I for one will be glad to pitch in and do my part. If that means funneling money into the Defense Fund, nobody ever said freedom was free. (Not that facts matter to you, but Jim hasn't paid one dime to the Times/Post for their "judgment.")
If your sense of freedom depends on the Free Republic surviving in spite of its bad decisions then mortgage your house, I really would appreciate it, because I DO enjoy the site. I will even thank you in advance. I just don't find its survival to be a make or break kind of thing for our country.
You are at best a sunshine patriot, a fair-weather friend. The loss of folks like you -- and the company you keep: Don Morgan, Nav, Mojo, et. al. -- is no great loss for this forum, or for this Republic.
I think their loss was THE BIG LOSS to this forum. And it was the underlying reason's for their going that was the big loss.
Please. Stop trying to incite. Nothing on FR even approaches the level of what occurred under Stalin no matter what you meant by that.
Posts are sometimes pulled. We all probably agree and disagree with what has been yankled. And? If you truly disagree, what options are available to you? What remedy do you seek?
OK, this is the last time I will try and explain this to you. That thread was posted later in the afternoon AFTER my announcement that HOWLINFR was a fake, AFTER my suspension of the fake Howlin's posting privileges, AFTER my publicly stated inclination to let her posts stand as parody, AFTER strong protest of same because many, including Sam and JenLart, believed the fake Howlin to be as real as a heart attack, and AFTER I acceded to their sensitivities and deleted the fake Howlin's attacks against JenLart. That post was a statement of my newfound doubts after hearing the arguments of many that the fake Howlin was real and many protests regarding my early (and what many saw as unfounded) declaration that the fake Howlin was fake (based on our mutual friend's assurances). Get it?
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