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What is a typical "Free-net"? How is it organized, who are its
users, and what is it for?
Will any of the answers to these questions change in the
next year or two?
22 responses total.
A "Free-Net" is a community network that is affiliated with the National Public Telecommunications Network. The term is a service mark of that organization, and community networks are not free to use the term unless they are affiliated with NPTN and pay a fee. So, if I understand the spirit of your questions, I think they should be rephrased with "Community Network" substituted for "Free-Net". -- There is no typical community network. They are all different, but they share the common goal of giving people online access to community information at very low cost. They are usually organized as non-profit 501(C)(3) organizations, and usually got significant donations from local corporations or in-kind donations of internet services from local educational institutions or both. They also raise funds by accepting donations from individuals. Some are free, others charge, and some charge for selected features only, such as vanity IDs, priority connection (fewer busies), etc. Some offer unlimited access to the internet, others limit it, some have none. Some offer PPP connections, and graphical Web Browsers, but most don't. Most are now accessible from the Web, some only by gopher, some only by telnet. Some offer access to most of Usenet, some limit it severely, some don't offer it. Almost all of them offer e-mail. Some offer chatting or IRC-like features, but most don't. A few have time-shifted conferencing, like Grex or M-Net, but most don't. --- The following community networks exist or are planned in Michigan: Greater Detroit Free-Net, Great Lakes Free-Net (Battle Creek), Grand Rapids Free-Net, Genesee Free-Net (Flint), Traverse City Free-Net, Huron Valley Community Network (AA, Web only as yet) Capitol City Free-Net (Lansing) (Planned) Grex and M-Net are not quite in the mold of community networks, but they are closely related. The Well, River and Spring are organized as profit-making or cooperative systems, and so in a sense are less like community networks, but some of the information (on the Well in particular) is of great value to the community and is available free over the Web.
Steve, is there any generally available database on community networks? Is there any way to put some numbers or percentages around the services, etc., you describe, or is all this anecdotal?
I don't have any data, although I can locate a list of community networks on the web. Also there is a lot of info from the NPTN on free-nets.
How do we survive -- get funds to run. That is the real question.
By charging for services people are willing to pay for. 8-)
Is there a "typical" community network whose budget we might
look at?
Is there some *organized* information somewhere about the 501(c)(3) status of a "typical" community network? For example, can an acceptable purpose simply be to provide "free" telecom services to the community, funded by the sale of premium telecom services to those who wish to purchase them?
There's a newsgroup devoted to that kind of thing. When I was reading it I got several promises from sysops elsewhere to send me their organizational information and a copy of their 501(c)3 application - but none of them ever did! [I also lost contact with that newsgroup.] The law on 501(c)3 tax exemption limits how much money you can raise by sales compared to how much you raise by public donation. I don't have it in from of me right now, but I recall it to be something like no more than 1/3 of total income (I'll look it up if you ask).
THere's also a mailling list for community networks. The communet mailing list. I think you can get information from Keith Stanger of HVCN about that list. lib_stanger@emuvax.emich.edu I'm sure he'll be happy to tell you more info about it, but you should mail him as he doesn't read this conference.
The IRS Instructions on 501(c)(3) are helpful. Charities give away stuff. Charity is a very broad term. Charities, like everyone else, need money to survive. I sense a confusion about the idea of a charity, and the idea of a focus for a particular organization. Being too particular is a trap here, dpc.
Thanx, srw! I'll check out that mailing list.
Rcurl and adbarr, I am rapidly learning about 501(c)(3)'s for
reasons that would be obvious if we were on M-Net. 8-) What rcurl
is talking about I call the "Anti-Fat-Cat Rule." It says that over
a four-year period an organization must receive at least 1/3 of its
income from gifts, grants, fees, contributions, and every other
conceivable source of funds. Then it says "No single contribution
can be counted toward the numerator in the 1/3 rule to the extent that
it exceeds the greater of $5,000 or 1% of the organization's support
for that taxable year."
So the rule means that at least one-third of the organization's
income must come from sources that are *not* $5,000, etc. That is,
an organization must have at least one-third of its support from sources
other than fat cats. It appears the IRS won't approve of organizations
which are fronts for a handful of heavy hitters.
Well, dpc, think about the concept of "charity". Bill Gates giving to the "Bill Gates" worship fund, is subject to question, I would think. Giving is giving, gift is gift. No BS allowed.
To clarify #10: the 1/3 rules (and the not-more-than-1/3 rules) refer to being excluded from private foundation treatment, under 509(a)2, which gives the broadest exemptions for contributions. In the 1/3 rule test, the numerator is the sum of 1) gifts, grants, contributions, or membership fees and 2) receipts from admissions, sales, services, facilities *in a related trade or business*. However excluded from the numerator must be receipts of type (2) from "any person or similar agency" that individually exceed the greater of $5000 or 1% of total support. The denominator consists of 1) + 2) *plus* income from investments and *unrelated* business income (after unrelated business income taxes). The clarification I want to make to #10 is that individuals and agencies *may* make contributions of type 1) that exceed $5000 or 1%; it is only type 2) to which the limits apply. The subtle point is to distinguish "amounts received as grants *for* carrying on exempt activities ... from amounts received as gross receipts *from* carrying on exempt activities". It is extremely easy for Free-nets to meet this rule because they do not generally have significant income from investments and *unrelated* business income. They ma also have as many Fat Cats as they can find, so long as the Fat Cats do not have control of the organization as a result of their contributions.
Oh yes - the "not-more-than-1/3 rule is that income from investments and
*unrelated* business income (after unrelated business income taxes) must
not exceed 1/3 of total income. In summary, if R = income from activities
related to purpose, and U = income from activities unrelated to purposes
(such as, renting a facility for unrelated use), then the 1/3 rules are
R/(R+U) > 1/3 and U/(R+U) < 1/3
which requires R > 2U (plus the restrictions on part of R).
Is there a summary somewhere of the "parameters" for all of thos
Michigan Free-Nets? I've been referring people to them, but each
has its own particulars such as listed in #0 (and also how one
can access them by internet or by dialin).
Rane, the UM School of Information and Library Science has developed extensive lists of Free-nets in Michigan, I believe. I don't have the direct URL right now, but you can get there if you can browse http://www.hvcn.org, go to UM in Education, then SILS, you may also be able to get there throug the Libraries infocenter. I think it varies about how much financial information they post. I'll try to get back to you on this. Frankly, it would be very helpful for free-nets and community nets, others similarly situated to cooperate in developing a unified understanding of these points.
The SILS pages point to several Web resources listing the free-nets and community networks. Direct URL is http://www.sils.umich.edu/community/community.html -- you can also get there from http://www.hvcn.org then to Libraries, then to Community Resources.
The Genesee freenet Gopher has a text list that's about 8 months old, at gopher://gfn1.genesee.freenet.org/00/comserv/orking/mich.lis
That list was rather preliminary with information missing in some categories for some freenets. It says it is going to be updated - but hasn't been. At the moment genesee.freenet seems to be having some serious problems - can't reach them and mail is refused.
That's the best we've got to work with right now. I probably ought to try and gather the info into a web page for HVCN, but I am too distracted right now.
In a recent Coop item, adbarr said that "Freenets" were re-evaluating
their function, purpose, or some such, and that Grex might soon be
one of the few true "Freenets" left.
Could you expand on these comments, adbarr? What's happening
to the Freenets?
Yes, David, I can expand on this. But, right now I am tired. I will look up the archived files and respond asap. Suffice it to say for now that NPTN is experiencing, somewhat reluctantly I think, a revolution in thinking akin to the debate in Russia/The Soviet/CIS. What has been has not worked, but there was a comfort level, despite the obvious failure to compete in the world. I will send you or post some info from NPTN. They are grasping, and should be rescued, but not at their terms. They still have some growing to do.
I'd appreciate any info you can post when you're re-energized, Arnold.
Sorry, Dave. This slipped my mind for a while. I'll do my best to dig this out of the depths of the disk and send to you.
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