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

[vikingchick]

bump for FR!

[abner]

One question.

If you shut my beloved FreeRepublic down, where would the reporters get their news?

[Arabesque]

My husband and I rarely post but read every day, all day, even though we are both hard-working people. Jim, I have found the negative voices always to be the loudest; they are people who are in need of constant attention. My dance students who are like this once made me feel I should quit until I realized that they were just the talkers. Everyone else was just too busy enjoying class; just as we are busy enjoying this site. I tell these people that if they can't be a part of the class, they are welcome to leave.

A yearly fee would work for me. We need this site. I learned how to use the computer because of this site. This site means a great deal to me and gives me access to people I would never otherwise meet.

In deep appreciation, Dancer.

[OrthodoxPresbyterian]

Either that or Orthodox Calvinist ;-) 416 posted on 11/28/01 10:05 PM Pacific by conservonator

"Orthodox Calvinist"?? I'd have to share that with my Reformed Baptist brothers and friends... and I am pretty confidently Presbyterian, hence, the more "denominational" selection fits...

[BADJOE]

It rolls over till you tell us to stop or you are out of money. : )

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

maybe THE SOLUTION is to shut FR down a couple days a week and a couple weeks a year. TAKE DAYS OFF, Jim!

Actually until JohnRob's recent fix down at the server site, that is pretty much what was going on. The withdrawal pains, for those of us over at the Yahoo Clubs alternate site, was like a scene from 'The Man With the Golden Arm' (only no Sinatra). LOL!!

[GeronL]

As much as I like FR I'm not going to 'donate' to a group who doesn't have enough self worth to charge for a service

does your church have a ticket booth? =o)

[spectr17]

No Free Republic???? How would we meet to sniff each other???

[lonevoice]

2. I don't know if you do this, but how 'bout FreeRepublic hats, (one with the eagle logo, and one with that top of each page "letterhead") jackets, and of course, the ubiquitous coffee mug. (in large and crack addict sizes) I'd buy some of that stuff!

I checked the Freepshop looking for apparel items with the very cool "Let's Roll" eagle. Everyone I've sent the graphic to wants at least a T-shirt. Freepshop has it only in a bumpersticker. If someone can come up with T-shirts, sweatshirts, sweatpants, coats, whatever, with that graphic, I'll do all my Christmas shopping there. And, pay premium prices to support FR.

Understand about not violating the FREE USE claim in the lawsuit. Auctions for "stuff" don't violate it. Let's have some! Surely there are FReepers here with "stuff" to donate...trips, legal services, website development, whatever.

Also, as some have mentioned, an email address of Whoever@FreeRepublic would be terrific. If it was availble for a free will donation (suggesting an amount), I think it would be a popular item.

Kill this website?? Blasphemy! I'm pretty new here and will donate a monthly amount for the next fundraiser.

[dandelion]

Good ping job, fella - but popped up at 22 on this one. I nearly had a heart attack when I read it!!

Time for a mysterious MO cash donation on my part...

[Dan from Michigan]

Never say die.

[texasbluebell]

Why can't you make Free Republic a pay-per-use website?

Sounds like a great idea. Or why not have a monthly fee, as others have suggested?

And Jim, please don't go away, not with Hillary waiting very impatiently in the wings. That's too scary for words, without the thought of FR here to help out. Think what that would be like...

[strela]

(mercy) As much as I like FR I'm not going to 'donate' to a group who doesn't have enough self worth to charge for a service

(GeronL) does your church have a ticket booth?

Now you know who was putting the Monopoly money in the collection plate

[rainingred]

Thanks for the explanation on Chuck.
Now, will you be so kind as to explain Inspector Harry Callahan's banning? I must of missed the drama. Jim says Harry gives him indigestion.

Harry always loved FR. His own web site was, at one time, full of FR links and nothing but praise for this site.

I have been curious ever since I found out about the indigestion.

[Captainpaintball]

I made a donation, but there was an "internal service error" afterwards. I did receive confirmation of a successful transaction. Just letting you know.

[MississippiMan]

Great point TBL. You see people, the second there is a required fee, or paying banner adds, this site goes off the non-profit status, and that would change the legal issues that this site faces big time. So for those that say they would be willing to pay a monthy fee, do it in donations. I'm not a lawyer, but that doesn't sound right to me. I don't think required fees would eliminate the right to claim non-profit. Making a profit is what would eliminate that right. In any event, having a subscription fee makes everything clearcut: you're paying this amount and this is what you get in return. The way it is now, it's "it's not required, but we need you to throw some money in this big pot and trust us that it's all needed for what we say it's needed for, and trust us that it's all going for what we say it is." This decision won't be up to me, to say the least, but I believe the continued route of soliciting huge sums of money without any disclosure of financials has FR headed for trouble. It's just common sense to me that eventually this situation is going to cause JR much grief.

[Exit148]

Jim - I was afraid to read this thread when I saw it! I kinda thought that you had had it.

As I read your statement, I realized that you were being true to form-----upfront, logical and on target, and I felt better because I knew what the Freepers were going to say. As you can see from the response, it is not Free Republic's time to go, and we'll see if everyone puts their $ into the till come Frundraiser time. (See! You even have us coining words!)

I just made a 'show the faith' donation, and will be here for the Freep-A-Thon with my 'put-away-a-dollar-a-day' pile of dollars that I have been saving (along with loose change) since the last call to arms.

Ever think of putting a $toll$ on MoJo etal if they want to come back? HeeHee!

Lov ya man!