I'm also going to skip the part about copying and posting material found in other publications so that one can do the above.
These are two true problems that require serious legal counsel and judicial process to determine the fine line between rights and duties relative to free speech.
But if one is to believe that the internet, and any one corner of it that calls itself an opinion page, is a part of the "free marketplace of ideas," and that in that marketplace ideas "sell" on their merit or "die on the vine" due to demerit, one really doesn't have to worry about what's said.
That is, unless, one worries about what is said when one doesn't believe in what's said, doesn't trust others to not believe in what's said, or is trying to get others to believe in only certtain things that are said.
This free marketplace of ideas is a rough place to do business. It's kind of like other marketplaces in that regard. At the farmer's market, cheap vegetables are often sold when near spoiled. At flea markets, cheap goods are often damaged or "knock-offs" of the real thing. But no one bans the vendor for selling knock-offs. You're supposed to know you're at a flea market, not Tiffany's.
And in the "marketplace of ideas," the same thing happens. When one enters the world of internet-based information flow, especially on opinion-based forums, it's "buyer beware."
When the Freeper Forum lost faith in it's users to perform this basic function, to cull the "knock-offs," it started to go down-hill. It also began to smack of paternalism, treating the readers and opiners as "wards of the page."
I will say one thing, though. The recent paternal attitude on what's said has taught me why the "Republican revolution" fizzled and why Gingrich cowered in the face of the enemy. No ability to play with the big guys on domestic politics. Often this page shows the same fear of dealing face-to-face (keyboard-to-keyboard?) with the real hard-left crazies. Better and easier to ban them!
All the money in the world won't change this. If the Forum drifts into a more commercial direction, it will just confirm that the effort is no different than any other mainstream media enterprise. After all, don't we criticize them for only "preaching to the choir?"