Reply #310: What other business can you name that does not pay for the

[Bluenorthwest]

labor required to run the business, nor for the product that people come to the business to see? You are confused in your analogy, the users here are not buyers of concert tickets, the users are the band, and the mods are the show staff, the promoters are wanting all the profit without paying for the cost of the show.
If they are a business, they need to pay their workers. If they are a business, the users will be customers, not supporters, and customers have standards of service, for example, a paying customer will not put up with homophobic staff. Will not do so.
Does that newspaper you speak of use volunteer writers, printers, and delivery people? Or do they pay for the labor that sustains their business?
One can not have it both ways. A business that does not pay for labor is exploitative. It is that simple. To be considered a business, they need to act like a business, pay their workers and respect the customers as customers, not speak down to us as if they were doing us a favor, when anyone pays for a service, they expect service, and paying customers will demand it or leave.
'We are a real business, but we need free labor, free content, and donations'.