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

[Z2]

Are you raising funds to pay royalties?

BTW, while you're here, could you "ping" BobJ and ask him if he could weigh in on these questions? Would you happen to know whether he sought and received permission to use Mr. Greenwood's song in the FReeper video?

Thanks!

[Bobsat]

Keep it going. It's an unheralded natonal treasure.

[Z2]

Fahey was banned shortly after we boxed him around a bit. Hope that helps!

[diotima]

I really can't speak to the Lee Greenwood issue I was not involved with the production or distibution of the video.

The link goes to the donation page for freerepublic.com. People can chose to donate to the forum.

I'll get your message to Bob J promptly.

[Z2]

Thanks! You're a sweetheart. ;-)

[Keith in Iowa]

Unless you're a lawyer representing the copyright holder for the Greenwood song, why don't you pound sand?

[Deb]

There are no royalties paid or licensing of material required that's "not for air". A non-commercial video record of an event that contains licensed material isn't covered by ASCAP or BMI.

Be nice.

[Z2]

Hi Deb!

Wouldn't the key word be "non-commercial"?

[TLBSHOW]

Does not help at all!

[TLBSHOW]

Off the meds tonight? Now run back to RR and tell your anti-freeping tale.

Or as the owner said Shove it......

[TLBSHOW]

I think Laz did just fine.

[Deb]

Yep. That would be it. I don't think anyone would argue the video was a commercial venture. No mass marketing, on-air ad buys or distribution was involved. Of course if music halls begin to be rented and the video shows up at screenings or concerts...that's a horse of a different color.

I doubt ASCAP or BMI will be knocking on anyone's door since the Greenwood song was a second generation element and not the purpose of the video. Now, if someone had been singing the Mickey Mouse Club song, Disney would be hacking heads.

[Z2]

That's interesting, Deb. What would be the implications of including Monty Python material, assuming it were used without permission?

[TLBSHOW]

no

[Jim Robinson]

It was a fair use. In addition to bits and pieces from our ball, the video was a montage of scenes and graphics from our protests across the nation and a fictional parody put together by lazamataz. The music was simply background for part of it. If anything it was a transformative parody and the usage of any copyrighted material was incidental and complies with fair use. Examine the factors of fair use. It was noncommercial. The Ball was not exactly a 10 week 50 city tour. It was a once in a lifetime private party. The video was a parody. The videos were not sold on any commercial market. They were mementos or souvenirs and have no commercial value. The proceeds were donated to Free Republic to help offset the costs of the ball. No commercial markets for the music in question were exploited. The gross proceeds from the video was approximately $5,000. There is nothing commercial about this. Forget about it. Z2 is chasing moonbeams.

[Z2]

Deb,

Another question comes to mind. Hypothetically, what if a copyright holder simply didn't wish to have his song associated with a particular event, and refused permission for that reason? Does he have the right to control who can use his property in that circumstance?

[Deb]

Mass marketing is: a coordinated national radio, television, newspaper and outdoor advertising campaign designed to sell a commercial product. I don't think threads on a non-profit (or not for profit, whatever) website qualifies as mass marketing...unless they had a jingle. Then they're screwed.