[WIARC] Fw: [QSL-Net] Funding QSL and QTH (my 2 cents)

[Danny Pease]

This is probably old news to most of you, but I want everyone to be aware of
the facts.  This reflector has been covered for the past 2 years by private
donation, I know the club sent some money recently for the club web page,
but  if you do make use of the QSL and QTH services, please consider
donating as you see fit.

Danny

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tim" <listowner@mailman.qth.net>
To: <qsl-net@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, October 05, 2003 3:04 PM
Subject: Re: [QSL-Net] Funding QSL and QTH (my 2 cents)


>
> QTH.net
>
> Donations are suppose to be on the honor system.  I'm pretty sure that a
once a year contribution is what Al is looking for.  It's unfortunate but it
appears that some clubs and people are doing the majority of donating.
Letting everyone know that funds are critical is not blackmail, it's just a
fact.
>
> The monthly mailman pw reminders ALWAYS contain information on how to
donate, but I don't know how often the QSL.net members sent a request.
Along this subject line I can tell you that;
>
> Some ISPs reject these messages as spam.
> A ton of AOL subscribers reject anything from
mailman-owner@mailman.qth.net.
> Lots of people have no idea why they get the reminders.
> Lots of people trash them without even reading them.
>
> Cold Fact - Most people think this stuff is suppose to be free.  They have
no intention of donating, and if it goes away, they'll find something else
to do or find it free somewhere else on the net.
>
> The lists other than the Club lists have no one to pay for them.  They
serve the ham community in general (e.g. the state lists, the radio brand
lists, etc.).  We hope the individual subscribers support them.
>
> Club lists are asked to donate $25 yearly since they already collect money
from their members.  While it would be nice for club members to donate, it's
not really expected unless they use other lists.
>
> It's about impossible to make email lists (other than the clubs) pay for
themselves.  Letting only paying subscribers join or use the lists would
surely mean the end of them (not to mention the logistics of all that).
>
> QSL.net is an entirely different situation.  People are getting a specific
service that could be charged for and the logistics for making this a pay
for use service wouldn't be terribly difficult.  However, again people can
find email forwarding and web hosting services for free elsewhere (and
probably would).
>
> IMHO since it's already a know fact that neither of these services will
support themselves via donations and keep the system open to all hams like
Al's original concept, the only method I can see to support it would be
selling a product line.
>
> Only Al can decide how much $ of his own he wants to sink into this and
what to do when he reaches that limit.  Whatever that is, I will support him
as best as I can.
>
> Tim
>
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