WHERE DO YOU START WHEN YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ESTABLISHING A FREENET IN YOUR COMMUNITY? An individual from a US freenet indicated that the reason their community chose a Freenet system was the fact that there is so much information available. There is an individual in the US, Dr. Thomas Grundner who is the President of the National Public Telecomputing Network in Cleveland, Ohio who can provide a great deal of information on establishing a Freenet. Much of this information such as model budgets and technology to use, is available via the internet through FTP: nptn.org - FTP Server tmg@nptn.org - Thomas Grundner email The discussion that ensued included the fact that where you decide to get your funding will determine what Freenet becomes. It was indicated that you can start up a Freenet with very little actual cash, but that you have to be creative and have strong community support. The Victoria Freenet was given as a perfect example of this where much of the start-up costs involved utilizing close to $100k in goods and services from individuals, corporations and government. The National Capital FreeNet has accepted the responsibility of providing technical advice to allow other FreeNets to get off the ground in Canada, and is trying to build an on-line kit to enable people in other communities to start themselves. POSSIBLE "HOMES" FOR FREENETS Libraries, schools and universities were identified as good starting bases for community networks like FreeNets. Some thought that the best way to build support is to approach libraries. Despite the success of the National Capital, Cleveland, and other FreeNets, universities may be bad choices because they are largely connected already. K-12 providers are another good base of support Using universities could also give an "acadenmic" appearence to the project -- and be bad for corporate donations/sponosors. ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY People said that if an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) directory could be written to allow new FreeNets to compare their ideas with those of existing FreeNets, it would be excellent. AND ABOUT THAT HARDWARE... If you're planning ahead for your freenet for the next couple of years, consider the client-server model. It will cut your telecommunications costs, but at the expense of some interactive capabilities. If you intend to continue using modem access, consider going to high-speed lines, either 9600 baud or higher. Rack-mounted modems are generally expensive, but there was an offer to provide Ottawa Freenet with them for considerably less than they have been paying.