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
That would be like knocking around Golgotha and finding THE body.
What it takes, keep going!
Dooooohhhhhh!
Ahhhh....all talk, huh? Figures.
This is making me very nervous..
youre first
This was a curious and surprising offer.
Jim Rob, I've just gotta ask you, does Cal have the authority to make such an offer? Was she speaking for you, or only herself?
Not that I am the least bit interested in being singled out to receive some kind of blanket immunity from banishment, mind you. As I told Cal above, I want to be held accountable just like everyone else to the original posting rules I first signed up for -- no racism, no personal attacks (provided of course, that the mere expression of a differing opinion is not regarded as a personal attack), no spam, etc. This is as it should be. I've never had a problem with your original vision. In fact, I've always thought it supremely visionary and ideal, which explains why I became an enthusiastic FReeper in the first place.
The moderators made a judgement call IMHO partially based upon a misinterpretation of Jim's intent
"We have been assured, over and over and over again, that the moderators do not ever misinterpret Jim's intent to suit their own whims or agenda, so you have to be mistaken. A thing like that is impossible…so we've been told." - 2700 posted by Scuttlebutt
To: Scuttlebutt
With the notable exception of myself, human beings make mistakes. - 2710 - John R -
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We seem to be making progress here. -- If mistakes have been made, and now CAL is authorized to offer general protection from bans in exchange for oaths to follow the rules, then the next step is clear.
Publish the rules, and enforce them impartially, in an open accountable fashion.
Say, now THERE'S and good idea! Who'd a thunk it. ;^)
NO.
This website is what it is. No one controls what happens here. Not you, not the moderators, no one.
This is disingenuous. The moderators, by definition, control what happens here. They make poor judgement calls, and fear of more of the same has chilled conversation on FR quite noticeably lately.
The content, in its voluminous nature, is controlled by the people who post here. If they stop posting, this website dies. If they stop contributing, this website dies. It's something more profound than you or me or Jim Robinson or the moderators. None of us, separately, can begin to replace the heart and soul of this website: the participants.
This part, however, is profoundly true. If you leaned harder on this idea--and less on the "it's my party and screw off if you don't like it"--it would do a lot for the health of Free Republic. And the willingness of the participants to contribute both good commentary and hard cash.
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