First day freenet concerns By Bruce MacDonald Realtime Online OTTAWA (1705 hr., Aug. 15/94) - Rural accessibility and paid versus free for freenets were two of the major concerns of delegates after day one of the Canadian Community Networks Conference. Delegates to one of the working group sessions said the main obstacles to rural access were long distance phone costs and lack of Internet conduits. However, several delegates suggested cutting costs by restricting Internet access to certain periods of the day and exploring alternative services offered by the phone companies. One delegate, faced with a $3,000 a month fee for a proposed freenet discovered the phone company offered another service for $75 a month. Asked what the difference was, the phone company said "$2,925." In the area of charging freenet users or not charging users, one delegate said, "If you're a feenet, you're not a freenet." Working session moderator, Lynda Williams, of the P.G. Freenet in Prince George, British Columbia, told the gathering it would be impossible to reach a concensus on the issue. She did make a point by saying, "You can get addicted to charging users. You charge $15 this year, it's tempting to charge $25 next year." Some of the other issues which were brought up during the session but not fully discussed because of time constraints were: freenet sustainability, technical challenges from rapid growth, non-English language groups, freenet software alternatives, freenet security and commercialization. -30- -- 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.