This proposed fund thing has been kicked around before but that was about all that came of it. I can see some issues which would have to be addressed like: How would it be set-up? Who would manage the fund and most importantly who or how would it be decided what cases to use the fund on. I'm thinking the best route would be when a case (such as whitenight's) comes along the TDR admin would need to post a poll and every member could vote on whether or not they thought it would be appropriate to use the fund for the case at hand and how much $ of the fund would be appropriate to use. In the case of whitenight I think any good lawyer would be able to recoup lawyer and court fees from DC, which would be hopfully re-routed back to the TDR fund.
This fund is a good idea, but I'm sure it has lots of potential problems. I can already foresee lots of :-{} from members complaining of mis-appropriate useage of "thier" donation, those who do not contribute should not have access to the fund, why is it when they have problem they don't qualify for the fund they contributed to, etc. Things like this will more than likely lead to the funds death. I think some very strict and specific criteria needs to be established on what qualifies for use of this fund. The TDR motto of "I am my own warranty station" will need to be stressed and clearly understood by all, because things like mechanical failures resulting from BOMB's should not even be considered.
I'm sure there are probably many more TDR members who don't bother with the TDR website or have computer access, so they would need to be informed through the quarterly mag. Maybe TDR admin could take donations and even have an option to chip in a buck or two when you re-new your membership.
Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
