Is it possible to " own " a forum?
It's a question that no-one seems to know a definitive answer to. I am a member of two other forums, one bike related and one a general forum that is associated mostly with people I have worked with overseas and here in the UK. Both seem to get revenue from ads to keep going and both have been running for over 18 years.
When the work associated forum went off line about 4 years ago I thought it was because it was not getting any revenue to keep it going, but after two months it suddenly came back on line as if nothing had happened. Questions to the admins, who are known personally by most of the members, were met with silence or evasive answers. The forum is still running but we still don't know what happened, who ultimately " owns " the forum, what revenue it gets from ads, and who really controls the forum. I had always assumed it was owned by the 4 admins as they started the forum and sent invites out to people to join but they deny ownership and say they are just running the forum voluntarily.