Snopes.com, the 23-year-old fact-checking website devoted to keeping the internet honest, is in the midst of an ownership struggle that, according to one side of the dispute, is threatening the future of the site and its good work. In an open letter to readers Monday, the Snopes staff is pleading for donations saying that a relationship with a vendor connected to the hosting of the site has gone awry and the site has been unable to earn its own advertising income as a result. "We need our community now more than ever," they write, saying that they're turning to crowdfunding now in order to keep the site afloat while they continue the legal battle to regain control of the site.

The GoFundMe campaign has already raised of $80,000 of its $500,000 goal in just the last five hours — $15,000 of which appeared just while I've been writing this post.

TechCrunch reports that this kerfuffle dates back to the 2014 divorce proceedings of site cofounders David and Barbara Mikkelson, who entered into a revenue-share/content and ad management agreement with a company called Proper Media in August 2015. The couple founded the site way back in 1994, and in 2003 formed a company called Bardav Inc., in which they held equal shares. Then, per TechCrunch, things got messy following the divorce, and it's unclear what Barbara Mikkelson's connections to Proper Media are, if any.

In early 2016, Proper arranged to buy Barbara’s share of Bardav, replacing her as co-owner of the company. David Mikkelson attempted to kill the contract in spring of 2017 (wouldn’t you?), but Proper resisted, saying the terms of said contract were not fulfilled. In the meantime it is apparently holding onto the site’s revenue and parts of its infrastructure.

... At the same time, Proper alleges that Mikkelson misused company funds and inappropriately managed Bardav otherwise. The details are being cherry picked by both sides, as generally happens in dueling lawsuits (not to mention when a divorce is mixed in), so I don’t want to give too much credit to either side here.

From the sounds of it, David Mikkelson retains editorial control of the site, and he's the one now seeking crowdfunding to cover the site's expenses — and the site's value, on a cultural level, is perhaps greater than it ever was in our era of "fake news," though conservatives have long sought to discredit Snopes as having a liberal bias.

"As misinformation has increasingly threatened democracies around the world (including our own), Snopes.com has stood in the forefront of fighting for truth and dispelling misinformation online," the staff writes in today's open letter. "It is vital that these efforts continue, so we are asking the Snopes.com community to donate what they can."

The suggested donation amount is $10, but, they say, "if you can give more please consider doing so."

The Mikkelsons met on a pre-web Usenet board called alt.folklore.urban that was devoted to urban legends of the kind that Snopes would ultimately serve to debunk or confirm. As this Webby Awards history piece on the site explains, Barbara Mikkelson was the writer of many of the original articles on the site, which they named after a family of depraved recurring characters in William Faulkner novels.

You'll note that Barbara's involvement in the site is no longer included on the About page, and the staff page shows 15 employees and David Mikkelson as the sole founder and executive editor.

Update: The New York Times gets more of the Proper Media side of the story, and it sounds as though Barbara Mikkelson is no longer a part of the equation at all. They say that Snopes employees are still being paid out of the advertising revenue, however they want David Mikkelson removed as executive editor because of wasteful spending. Mikkelson tried to cancel a contract with Proper Media in May, something they claim he can not do without a vote by the two-person board of directors, which includes Mikkelson and Proper Media officer Drew Schoentrup.