The Free Speech Coalition is close to completing all processing and notification of individuals and companies that applied for FSC membership during its late-June membership rush, according to FSC communications director Tom Hymes.
Duing that time the FSC experienced an increased number of signups, and, Hymes said, “the unprecedented process of accommodating so many applications at once taxed the organization as never before.”
He added, “We want to express our heartfelt thanks to the industry for its patience and support during a time when our energies have been divided between ongoing 2257 litigation, membership issues and many other projects.”
According to Hymes, the current situation regarding membership signups is as follows:
• 50% of all current members have already been processed and notified.
• 80% of total current memberships will have been processed and notifications sent by Friday, August 19.
• The remaining 20% will be processed and notifications sent by October 1.
• All individuals who joined during the membership rush will be processed and notifications sent by October 1, unless incorrect or incomplete credit card information was provided during signup.
Hymes said that “all applications submitted before the deadline date of 6/25/05 at 2:00 p.m. were included on the master list submitted to the Special Master, according to the stipulated agreement between the Free Speech Coalition and the Department of Justice. For those who signed up after the deadline, according to the agreement, whether you are not on the master list or not, the DoJ is precluded from inspecting FSC members during the agreed upon term.”
He added, “If you enrolled as a member using our online credit card process and have not already submitted your DBAs to us, please do so by email to [email protected]. Please make sure to include the name on the credit card used to sign up for membership.”
Hymes pointed out that in order to provide better services to our members, the FSC is also reconstructing the Members Area of its website, which will remain down until the work is completed. Log in IDs and passwords continue to be sent out in confirmation emails or letters, and will be valid once the section comes back online.
“We do not anticipate that the section will be down for long,” Hymes said. “The rest of the site remains accessible. If you have any questions regarding your membership, please don’t hesitate to contact FSC Membership Coordinator Rashaan Hayes at [email protected].”
