NETWORKS AND COMMUNITY : March 15, 1994 Networks and Community is devoted to encouraging LOCAL resource creation & GLOBAL resource sharing. The 13th report of 1994 is the 19th weekly survey. ----------------------------------------------------------- Coverage in this issue includes: QUOTE OF THE WEEK CORRECTION ASSISTANCE NEEDED News Reports from AUSTRALIA CANADA and the USA DISCUSSIONS NEW TOOLS TRENDS ----------------------------------------------------------- =========================================================== SECTION NUMBER QUOTE OF THE WEEK.................................... 1.0 CORRECTION........................................... 2.0 REQUESTS FOR ASSISTANCE.............................. 3.0 Author's Query.................................. 3.1 Business Plans Needed........................... 3.2 Editor's Personal Request....................... 3.3 NEWS REPORTS......................................... 4.0 Australia....................................... 4.1 Canada.......................................... 4.2 Open Gov't Campaign........................ 4.2.1 Telecommunities Canada..................... 4.2.1 USA............................................. 4.3 DISCUSSION........................................... 5.0 NEW TOOLS............................................ 6.0 NPTN Document Depository........................ 6.1 Other New Tools................................. 6.2 TRENDS............................................... 7.0 1.0 MY FAVOURITE QUOTE FROM THE PAST WEEK OF POSTINGS. ======================================================== or why we have our "educational work" cut out for us. "I travel a lot. I get out my color laptop and many of the business epople are curious. I explain what I do and when the Internet < "word" > comes up. I generally hear something like - oh , yes, that thing that Al Gore is building. Or Al Gore built that Internet thing, yes, I have heard of it. The most recent one I liked was... Well, now you know that the NSF is building this high speed super-whatever thing to allow us to all watch as many as 500 channels of TV on. Many people think Al Gore designed, developed and started up the Internet. Many people also think that the Internet will allow them to watch 500 channels of TV as well. ........ One business traveller with American Express had thought about buying a home satellite TV system. Why ? Because he did not want to have 500 channels from his phone company/cable company anywhere near his house. He held off the satellite system purchase when he learned that there was a company sending Internet News via satellite. He must have heard about Pagesat ! The point is - Page One Headline: National Superhighway etc. People read and think those headlines are really true. Its sad." Joseph Stroup 2.0 CORRECTION ================ "I don't mind people saying bad things about me, but I do insist that they spell my name correctly. The last name is Elmer-DeWitt, with a hyphen and a capital W. Thanks." Philip Elmer-DeWitt ped@well.com ped@panix.com philiped@aol.com "Read TIME on America Online, where we get paid to take abuse." 3.0 REQUESTS FOR ASSISTANCE ============================= 3.1 AUTHOR'S QUERY for a upcoming book on Community Networks "I'm interested in a broad range of information which could take the form of program descriptions, literature references, articles, brochures, people or system contact information, anecdotes, menus, session transcripts, suggestions, hypotheses, problems, or other tidbits that you think I could or should use. In order to look at both current approaches and possible future approaches I'm using six "points-of-view" through which to examine community networks. These six points of view are as follows: 1. Conviviality (or "community spirit") 2. Participation in the democratic process 3. Community health and well-being 4. Education and training 5 Economic equity and opportunity 6. Information and communication If you have any information to contribute - especially that which is related to any of the "points of view" in innovative and particularly effective ways - I would love to see it. I'll gladly acknowledge any assistance you provide. I know that I couldn't even think of undertaking a project like this without help from the "community" of community network developers. Thanks in advance! " David Schuler dschuler@cs.washington.edu --------------------------------------------- 3.2 BUSINESS PLANS NEEDED "The SALSANET organization is writing a business plan now and we would like to learn from those who have gone before us. I would like to receive (or fetch) business plans from functional community networks or community access systems. ... Please post these if possible. If not, could I get copies as well? There are more of us that could use the business plan information! Thank you, Sally Murray" sdmurray@mailbox.syr.edu [ see the item on the new NPTN document depository - perhaps you should send your responses there too. -ed ] 3.3 PERSONAL REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE The compiler of this newsletter is working on a special report about how to set up small business services on freenets. It is intended primarily for civic nets, but will be useful for any gopher site, etc. interested in serving local business. It will also contain a compilation of ideas on gaining support from your local business community. I would appreciate pointers to any site with information of use to local or visiting business people. This includes business directories, lists of business funding sources, avenues for business education, local statistics, tax and regulatory matters, etc. Please send your responses to Sam Sternberg As I have a commercial internet research business - I may also make use of anything sent in serving my commercial clients. 4.0 NEWS REPORTS ================= 4.1 Australia The ASSOCIATION FOR COMMUNITY TELEMATICS has released a major report in an effort to influence the early stages of Australia's reexamination of its position regarding the academic use of the Internet. This study advocates the view of the nascent Civic Networking community there.Copies are available from: Geoff Holland, e-mail - geoffh@uow.edu.au, gholland@peg.apc.prg >From the report - a "SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS" 1. That the broader social significance of AARNet as part of the Internet and the emerging Global Information Infrastructure be recognised, as well s the responsibilities it has as a major access point to a global forum, and that it be recognised that this forum essentially lies in the Public Domain and therefore carries the universal right of access of a Public Common. 2. a) That AARNet be assigned a higher priority by the universities, by ASTEC and by the Federal Government, so that adequate funds can be secured from a mix of sources for its rapid upgrading and expansion. b) That AARNet does not look to non-academic not-for-profit users, or small business to fund one-time costs, and that fees are calculated to offset incremental (as opposed to average) recurring costs. 3. That AARNet be developed as a major component of the Australian information Infrastructure. 4. That AARNet recognise the value of the larger number of low-level users so that access and reliability are not jeopardised by mega-volume users such as in the areas of supercomputing, video-conferencing and realtime multimedia online education. 5. a) That AARNet maintain free access to academic staff and students. b) provide free access to a number of not-for-profit individuals and organisations outside academia. c) That AARNet provide subsidized and minimum cost access to the general not-for-profit community and possibly also small business. d) That where a fee is charged for access for not-for-profit users, it be in the form of a flat fee. e) That all new not-for-profit users be given an initial period of free access. 6. That AARNet change its name to reflect a broader agenda of Public Education and Information Access while perhaps maintaining "AARNet' as a subset of that agenda. 7. That AARNet provide support for software development for more friendly user-interfaces, for improved online research tools, for directory development, for online tuition and other tuition services. 8. That AARNet maintain a reasonable level of direct user technical support, including after-hours support. 9. That AARNet continue to provide space and free access to Public Domain files, databases and software. 10. That AARNet work more closely with the national library network to further develop a shared national knowledge resource. 11. That AARNet make information and statistics on its operation and performance more publicly available. 4.2 Canada 4.2.1 - OPEN GOV'T CAMPAIGN The Canadian Association of Public Data Users is working towards legislation designed to bring Canada's government information policies out of the Dark Ages. Presently no equivalent of the US concept of fair use exists in Canada. Government production means that the government only may use material. This is the exact opposite to the US situation, where government information is automatically in the public domain. Background: The Campaign for Open Government (COG) was started last summer by Peter Calamai, the editor of the Ottawa Citizen's editorial page. Several national groups, including CAPDU have representation on this committee. Others include the Canadian Library Association, Friends ofthe Earth, Canadian Bar Association, Canadian Labour Congress, Social Science Federation, Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Canadian Association of University Teachers, Democracy Watch and the Geomatics Industry Association. The Campaign for Open Government (COG) has a single goal: TO ENSURE AN INFORMED CITIZENRY THROUGH ELIMINATING THE BARRIERS TO INFORMATION HELD BY GOVERNMENTS 1) PRINCIPLES o Information produced and held by government should be accessible to the public. This is the essence of "openness". o Governments should identify their information products and holdings. The challenge for anyone outside of government is to know what is being produced by a department or agency. The major change required is for government departments to adopt a principle that one of their objectives is to make the public aware of all of the information they produce or hold, with the expectation that what they have can be made available. The actions to satisfy this objective should include directories to information and proactive steps to inform the public of information products. o The information must be accessible. For information to be of use to the public, it must be accessible in a format that they can use, or capable of being transformed into such a format by an "information intermediary" such as a library, association or publisher. Consultation with potential users should help define the keys to availability. For some information, electronic access may be the most effective manner. o The cost of accessing the information should be minimized. The principle to be followed is that the maximum price should be the incremental or marginal cost of the additional copy of a report, or the cost of copying a tape or diskette, including the media cost and the postage or equivalent distribution cost. Cost should not be a barrier to the public. 2) SUGGESTED ACTIONS FOR GOVERNMENT o To demonstrate a commitment to "open information" as part of "open government", there are some actions that should be taken by the federal and provincial governments. These have been selected so as to avoid the need for new legislation. Subsequently, some of these actions could be confirmed in new legislation. o To further encourage the distribution of information produced by governments, the government as the owner of the Crown copyright should declare that it will henceforth allow unrestricted copying, reproduction, etc, preferably with acknowledgement, but without fee to all Canadians. Any compilation of such material should not be subject to right, whether done within government or by the private sector. o Increased use of public computer networks should be encouraged by governments through the provision of databases for access without incremental charges. o Each government department, agency, royal commission, board of inquiry or other emanation of government should be required to produce a monthly (annual, weekly) compilation of all reports produced in the previous month (year, week) providing titles and a description with an indication of availability (free or cost), or the need for an Access to information (AtI) request, or an indication of the reason for the non-availability (national security, Cabinet memoranda). (It may be possible that these lists can be placed in the INFOSOURCE for on-line access.) o All polls commissioned by governments should be released to the public within 90 days of the receipt of the poll results by the government. The release should include the reports and the data files. o The Treasury Board guidelines on "open information" should be reaffirmed and enforced. The Information Commissioner or his/her provincial counterpart should be charged with enforcing these guidelines. o The governments should support effective public education about AtI. o Data and information assembled for other purposes should not be treated as 'tradeable' data. Indeed, governments should not be in the business of selling databases to obtain a financial return. o Licensing of databases to private sector groups should be done on a non-exclusive basis. Any existing licences should be so modified at the first opportunity. The costs of such licences should be limited to the incremental costs of copying the data. o Any fees for the use of the National Library or National Archives should be limited to actual incremental costs incurred by the organization. o All contracts between the government and its suppliers should be publicly available as a matter of principle. will an "open information" policy cost the government more? It is believed that a more open information policy will actually save the government resources now expended on the consideration and satisfaction of AtI requests, since their numbers should be reduced. As well, from the viewpoint of national interest, better information should promote better decision-making, the benefits of which should exceed the additional costs for making such information available. If in the directory of government information, the need for an AtI request is indicated, then there will be the need to consider the release of the information in advance, based on certain principles. This should greatly reduce the scope of AtI exclusions and administration. For more information contact: Wendy Watkins, wwatkins@ccs.carleton.ca 4.2.2 - TELECOMMUNITIES CANADA "At long last, a draft set of by-laws is ready for comment. Please retrieve a copy via anonymous ftp from alfred.carleton.ca pub/freenet/telecom.by-laws or log into freenet.carleton.ca and look into National Capital FreeNet/Futures/ menu. " After suitable discussion, the founders will call for people to sign the papers (and share the cost ... < $100 each). 4.3 USA An excellent report on the TELLURIDE IDEAS FESTIVAL is available. This appeared as an article in Fringe Ware Review #3 (ISSN 1069-5656). More information is available from: Eric S. Theise, verve@well.sf.ca.us Copies can be obtained from: gopher://io.com/11/commercial/fringeware e-mail: fringeware@io.com FringeWare, Inc., POB 49921, Austin, TX 78765; +1 512 477 1366 " ... the Telluride InfoZone is at the heart of this year's Ideas Festival. It's drawing the social hackers here to brainstorm about Tele/Comm/Unity and, if the Telluride Institute has its way, some of them will stay, to live, work, and attract. [.....lots deleted........-ed ] "People [ the local towns people -ed ] want to know what the opportunities will be for collaboration between the school and library; for distance learning; for local content from the sheriff, fire department, tax assessors, athletics, and zoning commission; they want to know about tourism; they want to know about how the local media (KOTO, Daily Planet) will be integrated; what the InfoZone will offer to students and their parents. The questions are handled diplomatically, if noncommittally, and people are urged to get involved and to pay closer attention to media reports on the InfoZone. There's been speculation all along about the extent of local awareness and support for the InfoZone, and this outburst of questions is exciting. We outsiders sit back, listen and watch. A show of hands suggests that more than 90% of the 60+ people live here. More than 75% would dial into the InfoZone today if it were operative." (You can pick up the proceedings and other materials from the Ideas festival in the WELLgopher's Community/Civic Networks/Telluride section (gopher gopher.well.sf.ca.us), and Colorado SuperNet's anonymous-ftp server, ftp.csn.org in the /Infozone directory.) 5.0 DISCUSSION ================ The listservs have not been very active for the past few weeks. The primary topic of discussion remains the opportunities and dangers that may arise from partially commercializing civic nets. One message advocated abandoning the NPTN style commitment to no charges for service and suggested sliding scale fees for listings by businesses and larger non profit groups. Others pointed out that without business support very small communities probably could not find the resources to provide free access to the general public. One person stated that government, educational organizations, and businesses were all members of the community and the community service mandate meant that freenets must also serve all of these groups. Another message advocated great care in making such concessions to business needs. She cited the danger of being subverted into a mini version of a commercial provider. 6.0 NEW TOOLS =============== 6.1 NPTN opens a PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE DOCUMENT DEPOSITORY [ I am very pleased to report that NPTN has reversed its original decision and is testing a public document depository. Non NPTN nets can contribute. Please identify the source organization! Anyone may borrow materials. One commentator asked that only documents which were essentially original material be deposited. - ed ] "After much more debate over format, etc, we are ready to start receiving your various documents. Because we don't really know all the types of documents that we will be receiving everything will be going into a common area at the beginning. As time goes by and we get a handle on the various areas that exist we will break things down by topic. At the onset all the information will be placed in the ftp site under: pub/nptn.docs. As time goes by we will add additional subdirectories. To help organize the information. For you folks without direct connections to the internet we will be placing the information in a listserv archive. This will come on line about a week after the ftp site. With that said I'm sure you all are beginning to wonder "How do I make a submission?" Well here you go. Simply e-mail your document to docs@nptn.org and someone here will add it to the index and appropriate directory. To make our lives simple we are asking that submissions follow a few simple rules: 1) While it may cause you some inconvenience please send your documents in ascii, with CR/LF where appropriate. It makes everybody's life a lot easier. 2) The subject of the e-mail should tell us what type of document it is, budget, job description, etc 3) The first line of the document should contain your system and a one sentence summary of the contents of the document. Something like this: nptn.org: director of cybercasting services job description This is VERY important because the summaries will be used to create the index of documents. Because we expect to get quite a few documents, and like everyone else we have a limited number of hours to work with, if you don't follow these guidelines we will in probably bounce your document back to you for further editing. As usual, if you have any questions please contact: John Kurilec (jmk@nptn.org)". 6.2 OTHER NEW TOOLS OF INTEREST 1 - I highly recommend a NEW TERMINAL PROGRAM (to me, anyway) from Cornell called Comet. It's on ftp.cit.cornell.edu in the /pub/mac/comm/ folder It lets you do IP and dialup connections with support for 3270and lots of other stuff. Seems to be freely available, quite robust, and with a bunch of features I have not tried yet. Steve Cisler 2 - The TALLAHASSEE FREE-NET SOFTWARE can be used with POP. you can get it from ftp.scri.fsu.edu in pub/TFN. Not much documentation yet, but a few Free-Nets have put it up on their demo machines already. It's been ported to AIX, BSD and OSF1 versions of UNIX. The creator is Diane Wood (904) 644-4295 wood@scri.fsu.edu 3 - How to get NASA INTERNET VIDEO NASA has produced an 11-minute video describing the benefits to schools using the Internet. The video, entitled Global Quest: The Internet in the Classroom, is available through the broadcasts on NASA Select TV, can be duplicated for no charge at the nearest NASA Teacher Resource Center or Regional Teacher Center, or can be purchased through NASA's central Operation for Educators (CORE) for cost of $15. The video is freely copyable. For more information Global Quest, contact NASA CORE, Lorain County Joint Vocational School, 15181, Route 58 South, Oberlin, OH 44074, ph. 216/774-1051, ext. 293. 4 - MAVEN VIA FTP Maven is a brand-new piece of software allowing real-time audio conferencing over the Internet. This capability has been available on Unix machines, but as far as we know this is the first Mac software freely available for this purpose. CNIDR has been working with the developer to coordinate the release of this software. Maven, real-time Internet audioconferencing software for the Macintosh, is now available via anonymous ftp from k12.cnidr.org. ftp://k12.cnidr.org/pub/Mac/Maven-2.0a11.sea.bin To subscribe to a discussion list about Maven, send e-mail to: listserv@cnidr.org Leave the Subject: line blank, and in the message type: subscribe maven Your Name 7.0 TRENDS ============ We are going to be seeing more commercial imitators of the FREE NET format. During the past week 3 new Commercial Ventures modelled on Free-Nets were announced. ACCESS ATLANTA is a joint venture between Prodigy and the COX newspaper chain. BBN - which has the federal mandate to assist in the development in K-12 resources - is building a similar net using the CABLE system in Lexington MA. And stodgy old COMPUSERVE is providing Internet access and starting some additional features that look very much like free-net based ideas. Meanwhile - Innovative approaches to community service in the true spirit of the Freenet Movement continue to appear. The Minneapolis Telecommunications Network Announced *Freedom And iberty*. This new program is designed to cooperate with local free-nets and assist in bringing NON PROFIT GROUPS On-Line. These groups will in turn work on net access solutions for the disadvantaged. " All across this country, people are abuzz with excitement about a new Information Super-Highway. There'll be a million new ways to communicate, we'll have virtual reality and work from home, there'll be fantastic riches made and our kids will all be smarter. Yet, many people will be standing beside this so-called Super-Highway and watch as life passes them by. Who will make the on-ramp available to those who cannot afford the high-cost of connections? Who will make this Information Superhighway accessible to the poor, to the disenfranchised? " For further information contact: Anthony Riddle Minneapolis Telecommunications Network --------------------------- Administrivia - the lovely look of this issue is due to the work of my anonymous volunteer editor. Sam ============================================== NETWORKS and COMMUNITY is a result of the work of people located throughout the global Internet community. Net facilities for the preparation of this newsletter are provided by the DISTRIBUTED KNOWLEDGE PROJECT - York University - Canada. Editing is done anonymously by a UNB librarian. Back issues are archived through the kindness of the staff at the WELL : gopher ---->gopher.well.sf.ca.us ->community --> civic nets... ---> networks & community; & the NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CANADA : gopher ----> gopher.nlc-bnc.ca "subscriptions" are available through the generosity of the Listowner for the RRE NEWS SERVICE: subscribe by sending e-mail to rre-request@weber.ucsd.edu) with a SUBJECT LINE reading "subscribe ". Additional distribution is assisted by the managers and owners of NET-HAPPENINGS, COMMUNET, & the CANADIAN FREENET listservs. This newsletter is in the PUBLIC DOMAIN and may be used as you see fit. To contribute items or enquire about this newsletter Contact Sam Sternberg .