So who are we actually (legally) donating to: You personally, lavabit as a company or the nonprofit? What does legal expenses include: are the lawyers paid full wages or are they working pro bono or at a discounted rate? Please note that I'm totally fine with all people involved being paid, they do have to earn a living. It might influence the amount of money I'm willing to give though.
Agreed, I donated without a second-thought. But for $30k, we should have a clear explanation (more than a one-liner on HN) on where the money is going exactly.
Online donations are notoriously lacking transparency. Nearly as bad as the FBI/NSA (:P).
As long as it's being done through attorneys, that's enough for me. What I cared about was knowing this was legitimate at all, vs. someone just impersonating him, but that seems pretty clear. No member admitted to the bar is going to fuck up something as simple as a legal defense fund, and certainly not over 40k. I'd feel comfortable up to 250k or so without more documentation.
