[I've decided to alter my `futurework' designator for ease of identifying
the list email from FW to FWk to distinguish it from posts where
people are using FW rather than Fwd to designate a forwarded message.]
"Brad McCormick, Ed.D." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>I am a bit baffled. There is no such thing as "free email" -- at least
>for the majority of the people who use what is called that (Netscape mail,
>Juno, etc.). [University students have different
>problems in this regard....] These services are being supplied by capitalists,
>and (1) there must be something in it for them, and (2) a person
>is foolish to think the capitalists will continue to provide
>this service if the day comes when they decide the costs outweigh
>the returns.
You neglect the wide range of available `freenets' and community
nets. The first free internet access to the public was the
Cleveland Freenet in 1986. I was involved in the establishment
of the Vancouver Regional Freenet in 1992-95 (we came online in '94)
and subsequently changed the name to Vancouver Community Net
when the Cleveland folks tried to make some extra money by
copyrighting the `Freenet" and asking an exorbitant licence
for its use. At that time there were about 50 freenets being
established in North America, and another 10 to 20 going up
elsewhere around the world. I don't know how many are still
in operation, but VCN is still running, and this list has contributors
from the Ottawa CN. The service is still basic and text-based
for most of them I believe, but you still get a free email
address and lynx web access from a local dialup. The express
purpose for the establishment of these operations was to ensure
that internet access was not the exclusive domain of the affluent.
They aren't cheap to run, particularly the phone lines, but as
charitable organizations, they operate from donations and
some varying degrees of government subsidy, as well as optional
membership fees for those who want a say in the operation,
rather like a co-op.
-Pete Vincent
