Good news/bad news in Victoria report By Bruce MacDonald Realtime Online OTTAWA (1314 hr, Aug. 16/94) - A British Columbia consultant unveiled the good news/bad news results of a comprehensive sustainability study of the Victoria Freenet for delegates to the Canadian Community Networks Conference. The study, which was conducted for Industry Canada by consultant Roger Hart, of Teleconsult Ltd., revealed on the bad news side that freenets are difficult to sustain outside large urban centres, that the "Blue Book" model does not work in Canada and that demand for freenet access will always exceed capacity. On the bright side, however, the investigation found freenets are succeeding where others such as Teledon failed, that grassroots participation is critical to success, that freenets can become ubiquitous and that freenets can provide all Canadians with access to the Information Highway. Hart's survey also examined why freenets are of interest, the future challenges, marketing plans and revenue generating services, to name several. Among the challenges facing freenets are the diminishing number of corporate sponsors for new freenets because the earlier ones got there first and the fact that volunteer "burnout" is a major problem. The study concluded that freenets: must be community built, must agree to adhere to some set of freenet standards, should serve all communities, need strong volunteer support and should be able to focus on providing information and other services. -- Realtime Online - Professional Conference Reporting Team Rosaleen Dickson, Ottawa ac174@freenet.carleton.ca. Pierre Bourque, Michel Careau, Shady Kanfi, Charles King, Andrea Kujala, Jules Lafrance, Bruce MacDonald, Robt Rattey, Natalie Roth, Michael Silvestrini, Stephen Toy.