Got my FSC re-up yesterday

[juggernaut]

God they are 3 months shy of when I need to renew. One thing is for sure. I will not be paying $300 this year as their site clearly states thats only for real store fronts. Anyone else get their notice? Will you be renewing?

[Mr Pheer]

I got mine also but I dont think I'll be renewing at $300 either.

[Tommy]

I got my notice

Ill be renewing

I think 300 isnt bad and its very important for us to keep an orginization together

also all of this 2257 stuff will be coming to a head sometime this year

I dont really think they have done that bad of a job
if it wasnt for them who would have challanged this 2257 stuff

I know a lot of you arent happy with them but if it wasnt for the FSC we would all be operating under the new 2257 laws

and with nobody putting up a fight the goverment would think its very easy to hit us with new laws and regulations

I hope you guys reconsider

[RawAlex]

Tommy, same deal as last year - $300 is not much, but for an operator who maybe is squeaking $1k a month out of the deal, $300 is a big chunk of change.

FSC would have the strength in numbers if their membership rates were a little more attractive - say like $99 a year or whatever for individual webmasters, example. I would say that they could more than triple their signups that way, and bring many more people into the fold... there is strength in being able to say "we represent 40,000 adult movie and internet webmasters"... getting the entire industry under that one tent would be much more powerful than the few extra dollars they are taking in right now.

Alex

[Tommy]

Originally Posted by RawAlex

Tommy, same deal as last year - $300 is not much, but for an operator who maybe is squeaking $1k a month out of the deal, $300 is a big chunk of change.

FSC would have the strength in numbers if their membership rates were a little more attractive - say like $99 a year or whatever for individual webmasters, example. I would say that they could more than triple their signups that way, and bring many more people into the fold... there is strength in being able to say "we represent 40,000 adult movie and internet webmasters"... getting the entire industry under that one tent would be much more powerful than the few extra dollars they are taking in right now.

Alex

but that same operator can just put the 300.00 on his credit card and send visa/mc 25.00 a month

the FSC has some good attorneys, legal fees get expensive real quick

if you tried to take on a case like this yourself I bet the legal fees would be 250 to 300k

this is a business and there are all sorts of expenses

a log time ago a friend of mine bought a deli
he took a loan on his house and got the rest of the money from a business loan

he told me that it would take him the first 10 years just to break even.
he gets to that deli at 5am in the morning and stays until like 6pm at night


as far as businesses go this is pretty cheap to get into and there isnt a lot of expenses

[RawAlex]

Tommy, I don't disagree - FSC as a concept is wonderful - but if they keep the join price too high, they end up shunning the very people that this organization would help the most.

The fact that this business is cheap to get into only makes the $300 fee look worse... if you catch a special you can get a small server and reasonable bandwidth for that price... it would be like the deli association asking your friend to send them $2.5 a year to join their association because that is his monthly rent on his shop. It isn't in line with what the huge majority of webmasters are making.

I don't argue the need for FSC to be fighting this stuff, but if only 10% of webmasters are part of their group they are missing out on more money, more support, and more credibility within the industry.

Alex

[SirMoby]

Alex I respect you, like you and admire you but your argument does NOT hold any water with me. Anyone can donate the amount of money that you're talking about but out the 100s of webmasters that make up excuses for not sending $300 I don't know of any that have donated a dime.

$30, $300, fax in form, web based form .... None of it makes a damn bit of difference. There are those that offer financial support and there are those that make excuses and reap the rewards from our financial support.

I'd like to see partner accounts require some donation to some legal fund to support the industry. No donations then no partner accounts.

Someone making $1,000 a month can donate a few bucks to the cause but I know people that claim to be making 5 and 6 figures a month and refuse to donate any thing while others making much less seem to come up $300.

To answer the question.

OF COURSE I WILL BE RENEWING!!!

[Bill]

As I understand it, ordinary webmasters can renew or join at the $50 and $100 dollar rate too.

There was a lot of confusion about the rate scale last year, and people thought the $300 applied if they had multiple domains, but somewhere in the discussions we've had about this it was made clear that this $300 figure wasn't meant to apply to little webmasters, but more to sponsors and the like.

I imagine the confusion and debate about membership fees will continue, but don't let the $300 figure freak you out. You can pay less.

[RawAlex]

Bill, that is also part of it... if FSC didn't screw around and try to put everyone into different classes, they could get the deal on the road so much more easily and people would queue up around the block to join - without having to be blackmailed by the "our judgement only will cover members" shit they did last year.

SirMoby, I agree with you - programs by their design should have a small but meaningful amount of money put into the game... even if it was 1% or 2% of the ticket price of membership, it would change the econimics greatly. My arguments here aren't so much about money directly as how the current setup discourages people from wanting to be part of it unless threatened. Getting as many people in the game makes it truly a representitive of the industry... and fixing the financing side of it would go a long way to making it work out.

It would be a wonderful world...

Alex

[juggernaut]

Last year I did not have a problem with the $300. In fact I really dont have a problem with it this year. The problem I have is the way it's screwed up. I just stood up my cam site last year a few months before all this 2257 and honestly it scared this shit out of me. I knew I could never met the requirements they were asking. Hell even the big boys with $$ backing could not meet those requirements. So this made me run and join. Part of me felt good about it afterwards. But I was very confused as to what I needed to pay. I was asked how many sites I had. At the time I had 4 and was told I would need to pay $300, then I came here and saw some other WM who had many more then me were paying only $50. Ok no problem, I just wanted to make sure I was in the FSC and the $300 was fine. I was not going to call and request my money back because I dont think at the time anyone was really sure what the charge was, not even the people as the FSC. But this is from their site and from what I read it's $50 for me. I dont own a dance club or anything that has a physical location. I do find it interesting that the price is now $500 for "Internet and Online Businesses and Sole Proprietors".
How do you tell the difference between a sole proprietor or individual professional? Both can write off expenses like cell phones, software, etc. The only difference I know of between the two is one took the time to register a business name. Both can still be sued and are not protected like a LLC or Inc. I just got done with my taxes and according to my accountant, for online businesses it really does not matter if you are a sole or professional. If you make over $600 for the year the IRS just wants you to pay the taxes. It's just very confusing at times.

Corporation/Company: (Includes LLCs, Small Businesses, Sole Proprietors, & Contractors) Manufacturers, Production Companies, Distributors, Internet and Online Businesses, Websites, Mail Order, & Industry Support Services (see next page for membership levels)
Talent Agencies, Law Firms $500
Dance Clubs, Retail/Rental Stores (physical locations) $300 per site
Individual Industry Employee/Professional/talent $50 per person
Individual Consumer/Fan (Associate) $25 per person

[MrYum]

I certainly agree that the FSC membership structure and website are overly convoluted and confusing.

That said, I'll be renewing my membership gladly.

[RawAlex]

Juggernaut, amazing - Rick's Cabaret could join FSC and pay $300 per club... and I can be an LLC running a single free site and have to pay $500.

Wow.

Alex

[Chop Smith]

I will be renewing for all the reasons stated by Tommy. I will not bitch about the amount. I will bitch if someone starts another scare-tactic membership drive but I still will renew.

[Greenguy]

I renewed mine last week & oddly enough, I agree with most of the comments made here

[Toby]

Originally Posted by juggernaut

Corporation/Company: (Includes LLCs, Small Businesses, Sole Proprietors, & Contractors) Manufacturers, Production Companies, Distributors, Internet and Online Businesses, Websites, Mail Order, & Industry Support Services (see next page for membership levels)
Talent Agencies, Law Firms $500
Dance Clubs, Retail/Rental Stores (physical locations) $300 per site
Individual Industry Employee/Professional/talent $50 per person
Individual Consumer/Fan (Associate) $25 per person

What you need to keep in mind when reading through that mess above is that FSC's roots are the Adult Video industry, and that's still the way they think for the most part. Keeping that in mind, 90%+ of us here would fall under Individual Industry Employee/Professional/talent at $50 per person.

I don't think FSC is really all that fussy about how you classify yourself. They'll gladly accept your payment and give you full membership whether you decide that you're a $50 webmaster or $500 corporation.

[Greenguy]

I thought the $300 was wrong as well, but that's what I was charged last year before they changed around the membership costs.

$300 was what I was supposed to pay when I joined under the old price structure & that's probably why I had to renew at the same price.

[juggernaut]

I'm just going to pay the $500 to cover my ass and not freak out over it anymore.