WHAT IS THE NATIONAL CAPITAL FREENET? The National Capital FreeNet (NCF) is the first community telecomputing facility of its kind in Canada. It is based on a service philosophy and organizational model developed by the National Telecomputing Association in the United States from experiences with several FreeNet projects in that country beginning with the original FreeNet in Cleveland, Ohio in 1986. The nonprofit NTA has sought to standardize FreeNets and to coordinate their development. It offers a software package, FreePort, as the main engine for a FreeNet which can run on any of several mid-sized computers using the UNIX operating system. FreePort is relatively portable and generic; it allows considerable customization to suit different community needs, while retaining standard commands that encourage users to try different FreeNet facilities. Parts of FreePort were licensed from the University of Toronto. The NCF was registered as a Canadian nonprofit corporation in July 1992. As stated in its Charter, the purpose of the NCF is to provide citizens of the National Capital Region of Ontario and QuŽbec with free computer access to community information in both official languages. Three major services will be provided: - A "community bulletin board" service will provide event calendars, social service and health information, bylaws and regulations, and any other material offered in the public interest by citizens or agencies of the community. - An "electronic conferencing" facility will support interactive communications between and among information providers and the public: - An "electronic mail" (e-mail) service will provide both public and private two-way communication among citizens, community agencies and public officials. Polling and voting services will also be supported.