Speaking personally, I visit with webmasters every chance I get. I was at the Las Vegas Internext, the Phoenix Forum and the XBiz Forum so far this year. I saw the number of people who attended our meetings.....
The issues that concern me the most at the moment are bittorrent piracy, 2257 litigation, Utah/Michigan litigation, FSC staffing, obscenity prosecutions, and age verification. Net Neutrality is a big issue too; but, as an industry, I think we still have our heads in the sand.
Some people are always ready to take a free ride or criticize that which they cannot understand or control. I am alway ready to receive criticism and apologize when my efforts do not achieve the desired results...so I will do so now and redouble my efforts to affect positive change.
Please realize that the FSC Board of Directors all have their own businesses, families, and personal issues to deal with. Still we donate our time, gathering at our own expense, paying for our own airline tickets, hotel bills, and meals in order to try and affect positive changes for our industry. We lay out our own cold, hard cash to the tune of $1,000s of dollars a year to make it happen. Our "hidden" agenda is to protect this industry to the best of our ability and make hard decisions as a group that affect us all.
Any member of FSC is welcome to run for a position on the Board and join our efforts. We seek ideas, money, and time from everyone involved in our industry. Our needs are as bottomless as the government's coffers whom we challenge.
All I ask is that before you criticize the FSC, ask yourself, what have I done beyond the very minimum necessary of buying a membership? Have I donated to a fellow webmaster's defense fund? Am I active in my local politics getting out the vote or becoming a precint chairperson? Do I have a link on my site where my customers can register to vote? Have I sent emails to my customers expressing my outrage at how the government treats our industry? Have I written letters to my representatives in Congress? Have I spoke out against censorship at my local library, schoolboard or city council meeting? Do I know the other adult industry owner/operators in my area and do we have a local organization to help us with state and local issues?
What have you done to further Freedom and the 1st Admendment?
In truth, "freedoms" are all connected like a giant web with our govenment trying to knock out the supporting strands, one by one.....phone tapping, military tribunals, Gitmo, East European secret prisons, bank account monitoring, and who know what else...
IMHO a few do much; some do little except express rage at their own sense of impotence. I'd suggest you focus your rage on those that are causing the problems rather than those who welcome your participation and are trying to solve the problems.
The FSC's main means of communication are the Free Speaker weekly newsletter and the FSC website. With over 3000 members, contacting each member on a regular basis is difficult. We maintain the website, produce weekly newsletters and attend trade events. The desire to contact everyone on a personal basis is there, the means to do so are not.
If you have suggestions or concerns, go to the website
http://www.freespeechcoalition.com and let us know what you think.
And, again, I am just speaking personally from my own experience.