[1603] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
The Free-Net Concept (was "Internet Coverage")
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Susan E. Anderson)
Sat Nov 30 20:22:33 1991
Date: Sat, 30 Nov 91 20:20:58 -0500
From: "Susan E. Anderson" <sea0t@poe.acc.Virginia.EDU>
To: com-priv@psi.com
I wanted to reply to this earlier but simply haven't had time
until now. With the passage of NREN by the House and Senate,
perhaps we can take a moment to consider what that means, if
anything, to the general public in terms of access to internet
and eventually NREN, resources...
On Nov 19, Bill Yurcik <yurcik@dftnic.gsfc.nasa.gov> wrote:
> In summary, for a tiny fraction of the NREN proposal, FREENET
> has already implemented BBS systems in several cities where
> computer network access has become available and has excited
> the average citizen. The NREN proposes K-12 support but the
> major thrust is moving bits faster for researchers. Somehow
> politicians have been selling NREN as a mechanism for getting
> computer networking to the masses while in fact an inexpensive
> and working mechanism, FREENET, could use support to expand its
> sucessful efforts.
> How about any FREENETers out there backing me up! I'm not
> the most knowlegeable or eloquent spokesperson.
OK! I am a FREE-NETer (in fact, I spent the summer working for the
National Public Telecomputing Network--the organization that provides
the expertise, software, and information services for the FREE-NETs).
I have agree with you...
I think Senator Gore's rhetoric, which has appeared in numerous
publications, has promoted this idea that "moving bits faster for
researchers" will help bring computer networking to the masses. He
is, of course, talking about the eventual deployment of fiber optic
cable to every home, which we supposedly need to remain competitive
with nations such as Japan and Germany. And he believes that demand
for services delivered to the home via fiber optics will skyrocket
once the network is in place. NREN will stimulate companies to
install fiber optic cable, which will then create the demand for such
services, so he says (or at least that is what his articles lead me
to believe)...
If the government really wanted the general public to understand and
benefit from computer networking, it could indeed do something that
would directly and immediately bring us closer to that goal by
supporting the efforts of organizations such as the National Public
Telecomputing Network (which, as far as I know, is not receiving any
major funding currently). The FREE-NETs have demonstrated that there
is quite a bit of demand for access to computer networking (in the
form of an easy-to-use interface to local and national newsgroups,
internet e-mail, chat facilities, and limited telnet capabilities) if
offered at the right price :-)
Once people are exposed to it and become excited, I think there will
indeed be more demand for additional commercial networking services
(yes, I think they will then be willing to pay for them), including
the high-tech networking capabilities that fiber optic networks will
eventually provide. And though significant numbers of people may be
excited by networking in the primarily ascii-based, non-graphical form
in which it exists at present, the capabilities that will become
available through high-speed fiber optic networks will certainly
attract many many more people. I'd just rather not see much of the
general public have to wait until the day when fiber optic cable is
run into thier homes to experience the benefits of networking that
could be available to many of them at reasonable cost RIGHT NOW!
Derek Atkins <warlord@MIT.EDU> wrote:
> I use FreeNet a lot -- I know a lot of people to whom it is the only
> access to the outside world, but what NREN is offering is a lot more
> than what FreeNet has, and that extra is the ability to network! That
> is what is missing from FreeNet!
True. FREE-NET is not a substutite for what NREN may eventually
provide to the general public... As you said though, it is a start.
I just don't see why a significant portion of the public must wait for
the benefits of NREN to "trickle down" to them, when they could be
experiencing many of the benefits of the current technology now. In
comparison to the amount of funding for NREN, the cost of funding a
national network of FREE-NETs (or something similar) would be
relatively small.
