Why did it cost $7,300.00 for corporate and non-profit filing fees for three corporations? This kind of work is done all the time for a few hundred dollars per corporation.
Were the Free Republic Institute or Free Republic Network involved in those corporate filings?"
Well, it's a long story and I do not want to go into any detail about it at this time because there are still negotiations in progress and who knows? There may even be some additional litigation before it's all resolved. By the way, we did not believe that eschoir would abide by any terms agreed to short of a court order.
$7,300 was the price quoted. We had a quote earlier from a different firm and it was much higher. $2,500 or so per firm for incorporation and 501(c) filing did not seem out of line at the time.
The origingal Free Republic Institute and Network have been abandoned. The current FRN is a new project. I am not involved with it.
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.