My 2cents...
Stephan Whelan pays for the software of this website, which is not cheap. He also puts in a lot of time and effort to keep it upgraded etc. We are fortunate to have free access to all the facilities, (like uploading to gallery, free email address etc) and also having a clean forum - i am not so sure that I would ask for anything private. If you like, you could become a Support (9.95$ a year) and use the Supporters forum where only Supporters can post
Just my opinion.
