National Capital Freenet
Encyclopedia
Founded in September 1992 by people affiliated with Carleton University
, National Capital Freenet (NCF) (French
: Libertel de la Capitale Nationale), is a non-profit community organization internet service provider
, with the goal of linking people in Canada
's capital of Ottawa
.
NCF was the second free-net
set up worldwide and was patterned after the Cleveland Free-Net that had been established at Case Western Reserve University
in 1984. Within a year of its establishment NCF had over 10,000 members.
The stated mission of NCF is:
In many ways the history of NCF parallels that of the Internet itself. In the early 1990s NCF was the region's only service provider and members flocked to it to take advantage of the new technology. Due to its volunteer and donation-based model the organization failed to keep up with the rapid technological changes that occurred in the 1995-2000 period and lost most of its membership to commercial ISPs as a result. Later it floundered trying to make ends meet and finally established itself in the niche market of providing services to disadvantaged segments of the community. NCF board member Jim Elder summarized NCF's early history: "NCF surfed the wave of Internet success in the first-half of the 1990s, but fell off in 1995 and then tread water. NCF regained some of its 'mojo' in the early 2000s, when funding from Industry Canada
's SmartCapital program and several partners helped NCF modernize its back office system and web pages, bringing NCF firmly into the web era."
The early days of this free-net
featured dial up service and web access using the Lynx browser
. Members typically used the system to access usenet
, telnet
, e-mail
and Gopher. As the web became popular many new Internet users became NCF members before they went to a PPP
provider for graphic access to the web. As the web evolved NCF began offering dial up PPP access.
1991
National Capital FreeNet was started at a luncheon held in October 1991. Jay Weston of the Carleton University Department of Mass Communications and George Frajkor of the School of Journalism and Television Programming invited Dave Sutherland, the director of the university's Computing and Communication Services Department, to have lunch and discuss the concept of establishing a free-net based on the concept of the Cleveland Free-Net.
In typical university fashion a committee was formed under Sutherland's leadership and started meeting weekly that same month to lay the groundwork for the free-net. A decision was made to make the endeavour community-based and not part of the university, an approach supported by the university president.
1992
In the summer of 1992, the free-net was activated as a pilot project, using university computer resources that were underutilized over the summer. With help from Industry Canada
, Sun MicroSystems
was persuaded to donate a computer and Gandalf Technologies provided the first modems.
In September, the Ottawa Citizen
carried a front page article by Dominic Lacasse, describing the new pilot free-net project. The article included the dial-in phone number and, as a result, twenty people per day started signing up as members.
The first NCF board meeting was held on 10 December 1992 with Sutherland as Chairman. At that point the organization had a total of 4 dial-up lines, a custom logo designed by a graphic artist and Cdn$
2120. The start-up funding was made up of Cdn$1000 dollars from City of Ottawa
Community Health, Cdn$1000 dollars from the Carleton School Board, a private donation of Cdn$50, and Cdn$70 in cash on hand. The board indicated that the "correct spelling for FreeNet was confirmed at this time as " FreeNet ", with both the "F" and "N" capitalized."
1993
National Capital FreeNet had its official public launch on 1 February 1993.
In April 1993, Julie Chahal, head of the NCF's Public Access Committee presented a public access policy that was accepted by the board. This policy set free public access as a priority for the organization:
By April 1993, NCF had reached the limit of their first server in offering 58 dial-up phone lines and started upgrading to faster 14.4 kbps
modems.
In the summer of 1993, the organization's application for charitable status was turned down by Revenue Canada, as was the application of another early freenet in Victoria, BC
. NCF spent much of the year in fundraising activities to meet its mandate in the face of rapidly rising demands for service and the need to purchase new hardware on an ongoing basis. The organization hired its first Office Manager, Kyla Huckerby and committed to hiring a System Administrator as well.
Late in the year Ian Allen was hired as NCF's first System Manager, reporting to the board. By the end of the year, NCF had over 11,000 members.
1994
The association took delivery of its first Sun Microsystems
SPARCstation
computer and a new terminal server in April. By the end of the first quarter, NCF had 19,000 members.
The success of the free public terminals at the Ottawa Library was identified as problematic in a survey of users at that facility. The survey showed that some users were dominating the computers and this made it hard for others to access them. NCF dealt with this through a technological solution: limiting sign-in time on the public computers to one hour and to one log-in per day.
1994 also saw NCF make French language
access a priority, forming a committee to make recommendations on ensuring that Francophone users in the nation's capital had equal access to NCF and registering the name Libertel as the French equivalent to FreeNet. By the end of June 1994 NCF had 97 dial-up phone lines and was expanding to a total of 120.
By the end of 1994, NCF had published an Internet Survival Guide aimed at both members and at the general public. The publication was free to members on the Internet and sold on paper to non-members. NCF activities had attracted the notice of CBC-TV
who completed a news program on the association. Telephone help services were provided at the NCF offices by unpaid volunteers, a practice that continues today. NCF finished the year with 160 dial-up phone lines in operation.
One of the early supporters of the NCF community Internet project was Dr. José Luis Pardos, the Spanish Ambassador to Canada who brought the Embassy of Spain
online using NCF.
1995
Lisa Donnelly became the organization's first Executive Director.
At the start of the year members were limited to two hours Internet usage per day with a one hour time limit per log-in.
In an attempt to raise funds, NCF published a paper cookbook under the title From the Kitchens of the National Capital FreeNet. The project was headed by NCG member Andre Ouellette and came off the presses in May.
In June 1995, the organization adopted a Statement of Values that was based on free and equal access and specifically that there would be no charges for membership or Internet use, that the same services be available to all people of the region, unfettered communication and respect for the rights of others. The organization continued to fund its operations primarily from sponsorships, government grants, and donations.
By June 1995, NCF had 43,515 registered users and was taking action to make use of the then new World Wide Web
through introduction of the Lynx text browser
, among other preparations.
The organization had struggled with the need for and the drafting of an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) since its inception. In September 1995, it finally adopted one. The AUP made individuals, and not NCF, responsible for their content posted on newsgroups and on the web, banned spamming
, and provided guidance on offensive material and on personal attacks. On offensive material it stated:
By the end of the year, it was becoming obvious that use of the World Wide Web was where the future lay and not in newsgroups and that the organization was at risk of being left behind and "of becoming a ghetto for the information-poor instead of helping all members of our community participate equally and fully in future information networks." This challenged the organization to provide ever newer hardware and software while maintaining free community access. These challenges lead to a debate as to whether NCF should be an up-to-date Internet service provider for the whole community in competition with the new commercial Internet providers or focus on ensuring that the "novice, computer illiterate, and less-well-off segments" have Internet access.
1996
In January 1996 NCF began experimenting with using Solaris to run the news servers, as the organization began the transition from the NCF-developed text-based FreePort-based system to the World Wide Web.
The organization also formally adopted a Freedom of Expression Policy that acknowledged the Fundamental Freedoms of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
, the legal limitations on free speech in Canada, and that individuals were responsible for their posted material and not NCF. The policy stated that "however, NCF will cooperate with Canadian legal authorities to identify the person responsible for questionable material. NCF will only remove illegal material when directed to by Canadian legal authorities."
Hardware was upgraded in 1996 with the addition of two computers: a Sparc-10 and a Sparc-20. The transitions were complicated by the fact that the new computers ran Solaris, which did not support the existing FreePort, but were necessary to make the transition to the World Wide Web.
The organization had been using a set of rooms at Carleton University
since its inception, but the addition of ever more equipment and of four staff members put pressure on NCF to find new accommodations. The organization considered offers of space at the university, public libraries, and high schools. It became clear that a move would have to happen in the future but, additional space was temporarily found at the university.
The middle of 1996 saw NCF facing a cash flow shortage. The organization had budgeted on the basis of past levels of donations from individuals and from corporate sponsorships and was in a period where new hardware was required while donations dropped off precipitously. In response, the board considered whether to cease expansion plans or move to a new funding model. They considered all options, including voluntary contributions, corporate sponsorships, government or foundation sponsorship, advertising, selling products, and membership fees. The last option was noted "Some other Freenets do charge a small membership fee. To date, the NCF Board has opposed having any fees. However, given a choice
between continuing to operate with a fee or not continuing to operate, we may want to change our minds."
The organization decided initially to address funding with a multi-faceted approach that included approaching Mitel
and the Royal Bank of Canada
for cash sponsorships, approaching several partners for hardware donations, setting up a sponsor database, applying for municipal grants, recognizing donors on-line, updating on-line donation information, creating a webpage on activities, and auctioning off fifty-eight pieces of Microsoft
software and five pieces of Corel Corporation software.
One aspect of its operations in 1996 that set NCF apart from commercial ISPs was its community outreach in that year. NCF not only established free-use computers in public places, such as libraries, but also made use of volunteers to teach classes, run drop-ins, and act as speakers to other organizations. NCF established a formal Electronic Resource and Access Centre staffed by volunteers at the main branch of the Ottawa Public Library
.
Early in December, the three people who made up the full-time NCF staff moved into a new office, Dunton Tower at Carleton University
. This was the first time that all had been located in the same place. Previously only the office manager had an actual office and the remaining staff and volunteers worked from home.
1997
In January, the NCF board voted to reduce the size of the board from 15 to 11 members. This move was suggested by Executive Director Lisa Donnelly with the aim of increasing board effectiveness while requiring less support from the Executive Director.
1997 marked the earliest indication of a spam
problem on NCF newsgroups with some members being identified as having cross-posted messages on multiple groups and again over consecutive days. This resulted in a policy to warn and then suspend accounts involved for a minimum of 30 days.
The year also saw many of the earliest complaints by members about spam e-mail. The Executive Director responded saying:
The organization's financial picture stabilized as members responded well to the requests for donations combined with some austerity measures, such as not replacing one staff person.
In May, Chris Cope was hired as the organization's second Executive Director, replacing Lisa Donnelly who had resigned after two years in the position.
In June, the incoming and outgoing Executive Directors collaborated on project planning for the near future and identified that the organization needed to focus on reliability and network upgrading, improving online service versatility and NCF's financial picture. Most of the reliability focus centered on the growing problem of spam e-mails. Incoming spam was addressed by blocking spamming domains, a strategy that did reduce the amount of spam being received.
NCF was able to count amongst its key partners, providing hardware, software and financial support: Fulcrum Technologies, Ingenia Corporation, Gandalf Canada, Dantek Computers, Ottawa Public Library
, Oracle Corporation
, Sun Microsystems
, Microsoft
, Hardware Canada Computing, Loran Technologies, Netscape
and Carleton University
.
In August, the organization reported that it had issued 63,785 validated user accounts of which 35,505 were in active use. NCF was providing access via 169 telephone dial-up modems, most of which were operating at 14.4 kbps. Towards the end of the year, data indicated that about 13-14% of Internet users in the Ottawa area were connecting through NCF.
1998
On 4 February 1998, NCF completed its Extended Access Project, adding 32 more dial-up PPP telephone lines at Mitel
. The project resulted in a total of 201 dial-up lines and modems available for use.
By March 1998, NCF was running 13 computers, of various models, and a range of operating systems, including Solaris 2.5 and 2.6, SunOS
4.1.2 and 4.1.4, Linux
2.0 and 2.0.33, and Windows 95
. The office administration was using a similar range of computers, including a Macintosh
and various IBM
machines.
March 25 saw a major hardware upgrade, as one server was changed to a twin hyperSparc 90 MHz computer donated by Hardware Canada Computing, which replaced a twin SuperSparc 50 MHz processor. The computer also had its operating system changed from SunOS 4.1.3-U1
to Solaris 2.6. The machine also received a new FastEthernet card connected to a 100 Mbps port. The result was described as a "dramatic performance increase". NCF continued to move away from older operating systems to Solaris, with web server experiments carried out on Apache
1.2.6 and Netscape Enterprise Server 3.5.1
.
As part of the migration to using the World Wide Web, NCF fielded its first homepage in mid-1998, the result of a design competition amongst members.
Throughout 1998, the organization continued to suffer from declining membership and shrinking donations. Due to being turned down for a number of government grants, NCF was at this time relying almost exclusively on donations to cover expenses. As a result, the board considered cutting the number of modems and lines to save money.
Late in the year, NCF started installing new 28.8 kbps modems to upgrade the connection speeds available. The board decided not to cut modems, as it was felt that better service would attract more members and donations. Long-serving NCF system administrator
Andre Dalle was hired on 9 November 1998.
In checking the server system, in November 1998, it was discovered that more than half the servers were not Y2K compliant, particularly the ones running SunOS 4.1.4. This required upgrades and patching to be ready for the roll-over to the 21st century.
1999
In March NCF, had 14,517 active member accounts. As a volunteer community organization, NCF continued to be well supported by the IT industry with hardware and with software donations, often older used equipment as companies upgraded to newer hardware. For example, in March 1999, Hardware Canada Computing donated a Horizon UltraSparc III UNIX
Workstation valued at more than Cdn$8,500. This new computer offered more capabilities than any other that the organization had at the time and was employed as a server to consolidate mail, webserver, and web-mail services. Other examples include Newbridge Networks
donating two Sparc10 workstations, a 20-port Xyplex MX-1620 terminal server, and some GeoRim/Es 8-port 10/100 high-speed ethernet switches, while Netscape Communications
donated the latest version of their Suite-Spot server software. Nevertheless, the organization's equipment was aging faster than it was being replaced. One report noted that "Three of our four terminal servers were built
when 9,600
baud modems were considered "fast"."
In getting ready for Y2K, NCF decided to upgrade all its older servers, which were still running SunOS, to Solaris 7. This move required porting the still-popular FreePort text software to the newer UNIX-based system.
Because founding president Dave Sutherland was unable to attend NCF board meetings due to other commitments, the other board members decided to appoint him as "Chairman Emeritus", to allow him to continue to participate. In his place, Michael Mason was elected by the board as acting president and CEO.
2000
NCF started the year with 10,325 members, the organization having lost many members over the previous two years due to the emergence of commercial ISPs. All servers had been updated to run Solaris 7 as part of Y2K preparations and this greatly simplified system administration and updating. Web hosting moved to a server running Apache 1.3.12
with PHP4
and MySQL
.
The new state of the art in dial-up access at this time was 56 kbps and NCF struggled with whether they should take the step or not. The largest impediment was the cost of upgrading telephone lines from analog to digital.
In May 2000, President Michael Mason resigned for personal reasons, and Graeme Beckett was elected by the board as President to serve until 2002.
In a presentation in July, Executive Director Chris Cope emphasized that NCF must phase out text-based services and move everything to web-based services instead. Despite the level of comfort some members had with the text-based FreePort system, it was identified as being unsupportable in the future and that NCF members would be left on the wrong side of the growing digital divide
. Cope also emphasized that he thought much of the loss of members to commercial ISPs was due to their desire for web access, not realizing that NCF offered that alongside text-only access. Cope emphasized that NCF had developed a niche market in service provision - low income citizens who were at risk of being left out of the Internet and all its benefits. He indicated that these people were in need of training and assistance and that NCF was well placed to provide that to them. He concluded:
In late summer, NCF purchased and added three new 3Com
RAS1500 servers to the existing stacks and also received a large quantity of scrapped servers, switches and other equipment from Alcatel
, including four 3-slot Tigris access servers. NCF continued to benefit from corporate donations to provide service to its members. The RAS1500 servers proved unreliable, and 3Com ended up providing a full refund for them.
Pressed by a continually shrinking membership, which then stood at 7,972 members, a drop of 25% over a year earlier, the NCF board voted on 21 November 2000 to terminate the Executive Director's position due to financial constraints and to end Chris Cope's employment in that position. At the next board meeting, the board voted to retain an Executive Director "if it can be afforded".
At the end of the year the organization set its priorities for the future, deciding that: "NCF's focus in 2001 is to provide its members with low-cost reliable dialup access to basic Internet services, and to organize help for people new to using the Internet."
NCF ended the year with 7590 members.
2001
NCF hired Ian MacEachern as the new Executive Director starting on 9 April and, following his successful run for the board, elected Chris Cope as President.
NCF adopted a strategy for the future that included:
NCF ended the year with 6,774 members.
2002
With the troublesome 3com RAS1500 servers returned, the refund was used to purchase two refurbished Total Control servers instead. The pool of 14.4 and 28.8 modems was replaced with 33.6 kbps modems. SpamAssassin
and blacklisting was rolled out to combat the increasing spam problems on the Internet with these measures resulting in a dramatic decrease in spam.
To provide more technical assistance with the server upgrades and other issues NCF hired former Nortel
employee Glenn Jackman as a second sysadmin in July. Glenn served NCF until late 2005. Executive Director Ian MacEachern resigned, effective 30 November, and was replaced by John Selwyn.
Selwyn quickly prepared an ambitious action plan for NCF that included moving to 56 kbps digital lines.
Selwyn stated the priorities and the board accepted them as:
NCF membership finished the year at 6,618 members.
2003
In 2003, under the new Executive Director, the organization received a new streamlined website that included e-commerce capabilities. For the first time new members could sign-up securely online, pay by credit card and complete their inputs to the SQL
database directly.
NCF had been located at Carleton University
since its inception, but by 2003, due to the double cohort, the university was becoming pressed for space and NCF was forced to look for a new home for its offices. As a temporary measure over the summer, the NCF staff worked from home. In the fall, office space was found on campus once again.
By July, NCF had entirely switched to 56 kbps modems and had 184 digital lines available with a total of 276 planned, along with V.92 capability, upgraded from V.90. Executive Director John Selwyn said "Modem capacity is critical in member perception of value and quality."
NCF finished the year with a number of accomplishments completed, including:
As a result NCF membership grew to 8,357 by year end, a 26% increase.
2004
Executive Director John Selwyn started the year with a statement:
Early in the year, NCF introduced its own discussion group software that allows members to set up groups and communicate with each other through "threaded" conversations.
A mid-year shortage of donations lead to a "universal participation" expectation, asking all members to provide either volunteer time or a cash donation based on which services they use. All members were expected to participate, unless unable due to "exigent financial circumstances". A small number of members vocally disagreed with the policy, but the majority supported it and the organization ended the year with donations up 34% in the last quarter over the same period in the previous year and membership up 10% over 2003.
2005
In March, NCF began examining the possibility of offering broadband service to members. Executive Director John Selwyn said:
In August 2005, NCF introduced DSL
service for members. The fees from DSL access, set at $29.95 per month, are used to help subsidize the dial-up service for less advantaged residents. DSL technician Daniel Brousseau was hired to provide support to members using DSL.
Throughout the year, NCF continued to struggle financially, and focused on donation levels and on membership campaigns. The bottom line was assisted by the Executive Director not drawing his salary through much of the year and volunteering instead. NCF's child poverty access and members helping members funds were used to help local citizens in need to access the Internet. The number of members joining to use the new DSL service was steady, and finished the year with about 100 signed up. NCF finished the year with about 8000 members.
2006
The NCF financial picture started to improve early in the year with more members making donations, plus 235 DSL subscribers signed up. Hardware sales of DSL modems added revenue as well.
In May 2006, the ongoing space constraint at Carleton University forced NCF to seek new office space off-campus. Over the summer, the organization located and moved into Suite 302 in the Trailhead building at 1960 Scott Street in the Westboro district of Ottawa. Given the organization's focus on serving the lower-income residents of the city, the location's excellent transit connections were a factor in choosing this location.
2007
There was enough migration of members from dial-up to DSL that in March the board approved a reduction in the number of dial-up lines by 23. NCF also started offering organizational Internet domain names for both websites and for e-mail.
NCF entered into an agreement with the Employment and Financial Assistance Branch of the City of Ottawa
to conduct a trial Internet access program for families in financial distress.
At the end of 2007, Executive Director John Selwyn announced his intention to resign his position, and return to university in September 2008.
NCF finished the year with 1300 DSL members and 8000 members overall.
2008
In early May 2008, NCF had a major loss of e-mail when the RAID
array suffered a catastrophic failure. E-Mail service was restored within days, but stored e-mail was offline for weeks until restored by an intensive recovery effort. The array was replaced, and a back-up array was purchased as well. On 27 May 2008, NCF staff and members attended the Net Neutrality
rally on Parliament Hill, John Selwyn spoke at the rally and NCF made a submission to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission opposing Bell Canada
's bandwidth throttling
of DSL service, including NCF's.
In September 2008, the board hired NCF board member Rowland Few as the new Executive Director.
NCF finished 2008 with 2000 members using DSL service.
Many NCF members have gone on to careers in the Ottawa hi-tech industry after beginning with NCF dial-up access.
and currently run Solaris 8.
Studies
Carleton University
Carleton University is a comprehensive university located in the capital of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The enabling legislation is The Carleton University Act, 1952, S.O. 1952. Founded as a small college in 1942, Carleton now offers over 65 programs in a diverse range of disciplines. Carleton has...
, National Capital Freenet (NCF) (French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
: Libertel de la Capitale Nationale), is a non-profit community organization internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
, with the goal of linking people in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
's capital of Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
.
NCF was the second free-net
Free-Net
A free-net was originally meant to mean a computer system which provides public access to a large number of resources including community information through text-based dialup...
set up worldwide and was patterned after the Cleveland Free-Net that had been established at Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA...
in 1984. Within a year of its establishment NCF had over 10,000 members.
Mission
NCF was started to ensure that no one in Ottawa would be excluded from internet access.The stated mission of NCF is:
History
GeneralIn many ways the history of NCF parallels that of the Internet itself. In the early 1990s NCF was the region's only service provider and members flocked to it to take advantage of the new technology. Due to its volunteer and donation-based model the organization failed to keep up with the rapid technological changes that occurred in the 1995-2000 period and lost most of its membership to commercial ISPs as a result. Later it floundered trying to make ends meet and finally established itself in the niche market of providing services to disadvantaged segments of the community. NCF board member Jim Elder summarized NCF's early history: "NCF surfed the wave of Internet success in the first-half of the 1990s, but fell off in 1995 and then tread water. NCF regained some of its 'mojo' in the early 2000s, when funding from Industry Canada
Industry Canada
Industry Canada is the department of the Government of Canada with responsibility for regional economic development, investment, and innovation/research and development. The department employs 6104 FTEs across Canada....
's SmartCapital program and several partners helped NCF modernize its back office system and web pages, bringing NCF firmly into the web era."
The early days of this free-net
Free-Net
A free-net was originally meant to mean a computer system which provides public access to a large number of resources including community information through text-based dialup...
featured dial up service and web access using the Lynx browser
Lynx (web browser)
Lynx is a text-based web browser for use on cursor-addressable character cell terminals and is very configurable.-Usage:Browsing in Lynx consists of highlighting the chosen link using cursor keys, or having all links on a page numbered and entering the chosen link's number. Current versions support...
. Members typically used the system to access usenet
Usenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
, telnet
TELNET
Telnet is a network protocol used on the Internet or local area networks to provide a bidirectional interactive text-oriented communications facility using a virtual terminal connection...
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
and Gopher. As the web became popular many new Internet users became NCF members before they went to a PPP
Point-to-Point Protocol
In networking, the Point-to-Point Protocol is a data link protocol commonly used in establishing a direct connection between two networking nodes...
provider for graphic access to the web. As the web evolved NCF began offering dial up PPP access.
1991
National Capital FreeNet was started at a luncheon held in October 1991. Jay Weston of the Carleton University Department of Mass Communications and George Frajkor of the School of Journalism and Television Programming invited Dave Sutherland, the director of the university's Computing and Communication Services Department, to have lunch and discuss the concept of establishing a free-net based on the concept of the Cleveland Free-Net.
In typical university fashion a committee was formed under Sutherland's leadership and started meeting weekly that same month to lay the groundwork for the free-net. A decision was made to make the endeavour community-based and not part of the university, an approach supported by the university president.
1992
In the summer of 1992, the free-net was activated as a pilot project, using university computer resources that were underutilized over the summer. With help from Industry Canada
Industry Canada
Industry Canada is the department of the Government of Canada with responsibility for regional economic development, investment, and innovation/research and development. The department employs 6104 FTEs across Canada....
, Sun MicroSystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
was persuaded to donate a computer and Gandalf Technologies provided the first modems.
In September, the Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa Citizen
The Ottawa Citizen is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Canada. According to the Canadian Newspaper Association, the paper had a 2008 weekly circulation of 900,197.- History :...
carried a front page article by Dominic Lacasse, describing the new pilot free-net project. The article included the dial-in phone number and, as a result, twenty people per day started signing up as members.
Canadian dollar
The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
2120. The start-up funding was made up of Cdn$1000 dollars from City of Ottawa
City of Ottawa
The City of Ottawa is the corporate entity of municipal government in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The corporation is responsible for provision of services to the public as well as enforcement of municipal by-laws...
Community Health, Cdn$1000 dollars from the Carleton School Board, a private donation of Cdn$50, and Cdn$70 in cash on hand. The board indicated that the "correct spelling for FreeNet was confirmed at this time as " FreeNet ", with both the "F" and "N" capitalized."
1993
National Capital FreeNet had its official public launch on 1 February 1993.
In April 1993, Julie Chahal, head of the NCF's Public Access Committee presented a public access policy that was accepted by the board. This policy set free public access as a priority for the organization:
By April 1993, NCF had reached the limit of their first server in offering 58 dial-up phone lines and started upgrading to faster 14.4 kbps
Symbol rate
In digital communications, symbol rate is the number of symbol changes made to the transmission medium per second using a digitally modulated signal or a line code. The Symbol rate is measured in baud or symbols/second. In the case of a line code, the symbol rate is the pulse rate in pulses/second...
modems.
In the summer of 1993, the organization's application for charitable status was turned down by Revenue Canada, as was the application of another early freenet in Victoria, BC
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
. NCF spent much of the year in fundraising activities to meet its mandate in the face of rapidly rising demands for service and the need to purchase new hardware on an ongoing basis. The organization hired its first Office Manager, Kyla Huckerby and committed to hiring a System Administrator as well.
Late in the year Ian Allen was hired as NCF's first System Manager, reporting to the board. By the end of the year, NCF had over 11,000 members.
1994
The association took delivery of its first Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
SPARCstation
SPARCstation
The SPARCstation, SPARCserver and SPARCcenter product lines were a series of SPARC-based computer workstations and servers in desktop, deskside and rack-based form factor developed and sold by Sun Microsystems...
computer and a new terminal server in April. By the end of the first quarter, NCF had 19,000 members.
The success of the free public terminals at the Ottawa Library was identified as problematic in a survey of users at that facility. The survey showed that some users were dominating the computers and this made it hard for others to access them. NCF dealt with this through a technological solution: limiting sign-in time on the public computers to one hour and to one log-in per day.
1994 also saw NCF make French language
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
access a priority, forming a committee to make recommendations on ensuring that Francophone users in the nation's capital had equal access to NCF and registering the name Libertel as the French equivalent to FreeNet. By the end of June 1994 NCF had 97 dial-up phone lines and was expanding to a total of 120.
By the end of 1994, NCF had published an Internet Survival Guide aimed at both members and at the general public. The publication was free to members on the Internet and sold on paper to non-members. NCF activities had attracted the notice of CBC-TV
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
who completed a news program on the association. Telephone help services were provided at the NCF offices by unpaid volunteers, a practice that continues today. NCF finished the year with 160 dial-up phone lines in operation.
One of the early supporters of the NCF community Internet project was Dr. José Luis Pardos, the Spanish Ambassador to Canada who brought the Embassy of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
online using NCF.
1995
At the start of the year members were limited to two hours Internet usage per day with a one hour time limit per log-in.
In an attempt to raise funds, NCF published a paper cookbook under the title From the Kitchens of the National Capital FreeNet. The project was headed by NCG member Andre Ouellette and came off the presses in May.
In June 1995, the organization adopted a Statement of Values that was based on free and equal access and specifically that there would be no charges for membership or Internet use, that the same services be available to all people of the region, unfettered communication and respect for the rights of others. The organization continued to fund its operations primarily from sponsorships, government grants, and donations.
By June 1995, NCF had 43,515 registered users and was taking action to make use of the then new World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
through introduction of the Lynx text browser
Lynx (web browser)
Lynx is a text-based web browser for use on cursor-addressable character cell terminals and is very configurable.-Usage:Browsing in Lynx consists of highlighting the chosen link using cursor keys, or having all links on a page numbered and entering the chosen link's number. Current versions support...
, among other preparations.
The organization had struggled with the need for and the drafting of an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) since its inception. In September 1995, it finally adopted one. The AUP made individuals, and not NCF, responsible for their content posted on newsgroups and on the web, banned spamming
Spam (electronic)
Spam is the use of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately...
, and provided guidance on offensive material and on personal attacks. On offensive material it stated:
By the end of the year, it was becoming obvious that use of the World Wide Web was where the future lay and not in newsgroups and that the organization was at risk of being left behind and "of becoming a ghetto for the information-poor instead of helping all members of our community participate equally and fully in future information networks." This challenged the organization to provide ever newer hardware and software while maintaining free community access. These challenges lead to a debate as to whether NCF should be an up-to-date Internet service provider for the whole community in competition with the new commercial Internet providers or focus on ensuring that the "novice, computer illiterate, and less-well-off segments" have Internet access.
1996
In January 1996 NCF began experimenting with using Solaris to run the news servers, as the organization began the transition from the NCF-developed text-based FreePort-based system to the World Wide Web.
The organization also formally adopted a Freedom of Expression Policy that acknowledged the Fundamental Freedoms of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada. It forms the first part of the Constitution Act, 1982...
, the legal limitations on free speech in Canada, and that individuals were responsible for their posted material and not NCF. The policy stated that "however, NCF will cooperate with Canadian legal authorities to identify the person responsible for questionable material. NCF will only remove illegal material when directed to by Canadian legal authorities."
Hardware was upgraded in 1996 with the addition of two computers: a Sparc-10 and a Sparc-20. The transitions were complicated by the fact that the new computers ran Solaris, which did not support the existing FreePort, but were necessary to make the transition to the World Wide Web.
The organization had been using a set of rooms at Carleton University
Carleton University
Carleton University is a comprehensive university located in the capital of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The enabling legislation is The Carleton University Act, 1952, S.O. 1952. Founded as a small college in 1942, Carleton now offers over 65 programs in a diverse range of disciplines. Carleton has...
since its inception, but the addition of ever more equipment and of four staff members put pressure on NCF to find new accommodations. The organization considered offers of space at the university, public libraries, and high schools. It became clear that a move would have to happen in the future but, additional space was temporarily found at the university.
The middle of 1996 saw NCF facing a cash flow shortage. The organization had budgeted on the basis of past levels of donations from individuals and from corporate sponsorships and was in a period where new hardware was required while donations dropped off precipitously. In response, the board considered whether to cease expansion plans or move to a new funding model. They considered all options, including voluntary contributions, corporate sponsorships, government or foundation sponsorship, advertising, selling products, and membership fees. The last option was noted "Some other Freenets do charge a small membership fee. To date, the NCF Board has opposed having any fees. However, given a choice
between continuing to operate with a fee or not continuing to operate, we may want to change our minds."
The organization decided initially to address funding with a multi-faceted approach that included approaching Mitel
Mitel
Mitel Networks, is a high-tech company providing unified communications solutions for business. The company previously produced TDM PBX systems and applications but after a change in ownership in 2001 now focuses almost entirely on Voice-over-IP products.Mitel is headquartered in Ottawa,...
and the Royal Bank of Canada
Royal Bank of Canada
The Royal Bank of Canada or RBC Financial Group is the largest financial institution in Canada, as measured by deposits, revenues, and market capitalization. The bank serves seventeen million clients and has 80,100 employees worldwide. The company corporate headquarters are located in Toronto,...
for cash sponsorships, approaching several partners for hardware donations, setting up a sponsor database, applying for municipal grants, recognizing donors on-line, updating on-line donation information, creating a webpage on activities, and auctioning off fifty-eight pieces of Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
software and five pieces of Corel Corporation software.
One aspect of its operations in 1996 that set NCF apart from commercial ISPs was its community outreach in that year. NCF not only established free-use computers in public places, such as libraries, but also made use of volunteers to teach classes, run drop-ins, and act as speakers to other organizations. NCF established a formal Electronic Resource and Access Centre staffed by volunteers at the main branch of the Ottawa Public Library
Ottawa Public Library
The Ottawa Public Library is the library system of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and is the largest bilingual library in North America...
.
Early in December, the three people who made up the full-time NCF staff moved into a new office, Dunton Tower at Carleton University
Carleton University
Carleton University is a comprehensive university located in the capital of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The enabling legislation is The Carleton University Act, 1952, S.O. 1952. Founded as a small college in 1942, Carleton now offers over 65 programs in a diverse range of disciplines. Carleton has...
. This was the first time that all had been located in the same place. Previously only the office manager had an actual office and the remaining staff and volunteers worked from home.
1997
In January, the NCF board voted to reduce the size of the board from 15 to 11 members. This move was suggested by Executive Director Lisa Donnelly with the aim of increasing board effectiveness while requiring less support from the Executive Director.
1997 marked the earliest indication of a spam
Spam (electronic)
Spam is the use of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately...
problem on NCF newsgroups with some members being identified as having cross-posted messages on multiple groups and again over consecutive days. This resulted in a policy to warn and then suspend accounts involved for a minimum of 30 days.
The year also saw many of the earliest complaints by members about spam e-mail. The Executive Director responded saying:
The organization's financial picture stabilized as members responded well to the requests for donations combined with some austerity measures, such as not replacing one staff person.
In May, Chris Cope was hired as the organization's second Executive Director, replacing Lisa Donnelly who had resigned after two years in the position.
In June, the incoming and outgoing Executive Directors collaborated on project planning for the near future and identified that the organization needed to focus on reliability and network upgrading, improving online service versatility and NCF's financial picture. Most of the reliability focus centered on the growing problem of spam e-mails. Incoming spam was addressed by blocking spamming domains, a strategy that did reduce the amount of spam being received.
NCF was able to count amongst its key partners, providing hardware, software and financial support: Fulcrum Technologies, Ingenia Corporation, Gandalf Canada, Dantek Computers, Ottawa Public Library
Ottawa Public Library
The Ottawa Public Library is the library system of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and is the largest bilingual library in North America...
, Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing hardware systems and enterprise software products – particularly database management systems...
, Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
, Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, Hardware Canada Computing, Loran Technologies, Netscape
Netscape
Netscape Communications is a US computer services company, best known for Netscape Navigator, its web browser. When it was an independent company, its headquarters were in Mountain View, California...
and Carleton University
Carleton University
Carleton University is a comprehensive university located in the capital of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The enabling legislation is The Carleton University Act, 1952, S.O. 1952. Founded as a small college in 1942, Carleton now offers over 65 programs in a diverse range of disciplines. Carleton has...
.
In August, the organization reported that it had issued 63,785 validated user accounts of which 35,505 were in active use. NCF was providing access via 169 telephone dial-up modems, most of which were operating at 14.4 kbps. Towards the end of the year, data indicated that about 13-14% of Internet users in the Ottawa area were connecting through NCF.
1998
Mitel
Mitel Networks, is a high-tech company providing unified communications solutions for business. The company previously produced TDM PBX systems and applications but after a change in ownership in 2001 now focuses almost entirely on Voice-over-IP products.Mitel is headquartered in Ottawa,...
. The project resulted in a total of 201 dial-up lines and modems available for use.
By March 1998, NCF was running 13 computers, of various models, and a range of operating systems, including Solaris 2.5 and 2.6, SunOS
SunOS
SunOS is a version of the Unix operating system developed by Sun Microsystems for their workstation and server computer systems. The SunOS name is usually only used to refer to versions 1.0 to 4.1.4 of SunOS...
4.1.2 and 4.1.4, Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
2.0 and 2.0.33, and Windows 95
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
. The office administration was using a similar range of computers, including a Macintosh
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
and various IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
machines.
March 25 saw a major hardware upgrade, as one server was changed to a twin hyperSparc 90 MHz computer donated by Hardware Canada Computing, which replaced a twin SuperSparc 50 MHz processor. The computer also had its operating system changed from SunOS 4.1.3-U1
SunOS
SunOS is a version of the Unix operating system developed by Sun Microsystems for their workstation and server computer systems. The SunOS name is usually only used to refer to versions 1.0 to 4.1.4 of SunOS...
to Solaris 2.6. The machine also received a new FastEthernet card connected to a 100 Mbps port. The result was described as a "dramatic performance increase". NCF continued to move away from older operating systems to Solaris, with web server experiments carried out on Apache
Apache HTTP Server
The Apache HTTP Server, commonly referred to as Apache , is web server software notable for playing a key role in the initial growth of the World Wide Web. In 2009 it became the first web server software to surpass the 100 million website milestone...
1.2.6 and Netscape Enterprise Server 3.5.1
Netscape
Netscape Communications is a US computer services company, best known for Netscape Navigator, its web browser. When it was an independent company, its headquarters were in Mountain View, California...
.
As part of the migration to using the World Wide Web, NCF fielded its first homepage in mid-1998, the result of a design competition amongst members.
Throughout 1998, the organization continued to suffer from declining membership and shrinking donations. Due to being turned down for a number of government grants, NCF was at this time relying almost exclusively on donations to cover expenses. As a result, the board considered cutting the number of modems and lines to save money.
Late in the year, NCF started installing new 28.8 kbps modems to upgrade the connection speeds available. The board decided not to cut modems, as it was felt that better service would attract more members and donations. Long-serving NCF system administrator
System administrator
A system administrator, IT systems administrator, systems administrator, or sysadmin is a person employed to maintain and operate a computer system and/or network...
Andre Dalle was hired on 9 November 1998.
In checking the server system, in November 1998, it was discovered that more than half the servers were not Y2K compliant, particularly the ones running SunOS 4.1.4. This required upgrades and patching to be ready for the roll-over to the 21st century.
1999
In March NCF, had 14,517 active member accounts. As a volunteer community organization, NCF continued to be well supported by the IT industry with hardware and with software donations, often older used equipment as companies upgraded to newer hardware. For example, in March 1999, Hardware Canada Computing donated a Horizon UltraSparc III UNIX
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
Workstation valued at more than Cdn$8,500. This new computer offered more capabilities than any other that the organization had at the time and was employed as a server to consolidate mail, webserver, and web-mail services. Other examples include Newbridge Networks
Newbridge Networks
Newbridge Networks was an Ottawa, Ontario, Canada company founded by Welsh-Canadian entrepreneur Sir Terry Matthews. It was founded in 1986 to create data and voice networking products after Matthews was forced out of his original company Mitel...
donating two Sparc10 workstations, a 20-port Xyplex MX-1620 terminal server, and some GeoRim/Es 8-port 10/100 high-speed ethernet switches, while Netscape Communications
Netscape
Netscape Communications is a US computer services company, best known for Netscape Navigator, its web browser. When it was an independent company, its headquarters were in Mountain View, California...
donated the latest version of their Suite-Spot server software. Nevertheless, the organization's equipment was aging faster than it was being replaced. One report noted that "Three of our four terminal servers were built
when 9,600
baud modems were considered "fast"."
In getting ready for Y2K, NCF decided to upgrade all its older servers, which were still running SunOS, to Solaris 7. This move required porting the still-popular FreePort text software to the newer UNIX-based system.
Because founding president Dave Sutherland was unable to attend NCF board meetings due to other commitments, the other board members decided to appoint him as "Chairman Emeritus", to allow him to continue to participate. In his place, Michael Mason was elected by the board as acting president and CEO.
2000
NCF started the year with 10,325 members, the organization having lost many members over the previous two years due to the emergence of commercial ISPs. All servers had been updated to run Solaris 7 as part of Y2K preparations and this greatly simplified system administration and updating. Web hosting moved to a server running Apache 1.3.12
Apache HTTP Server
The Apache HTTP Server, commonly referred to as Apache , is web server software notable for playing a key role in the initial growth of the World Wide Web. In 2009 it became the first web server software to surpass the 100 million website milestone...
with PHP4
PHP
PHP is a general-purpose server-side scripting language originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. For this purpose, PHP code is embedded into the HTML source document and interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the web page document...
and MySQL
MySQL
MySQL officially, but also commonly "My Sequel") is a relational database management system that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. It is named after developer Michael Widenius' daughter, My...
.
The new state of the art in dial-up access at this time was 56 kbps and NCF struggled with whether they should take the step or not. The largest impediment was the cost of upgrading telephone lines from analog to digital.
In May 2000, President Michael Mason resigned for personal reasons, and Graeme Beckett was elected by the board as President to serve until 2002.
In a presentation in July, Executive Director Chris Cope emphasized that NCF must phase out text-based services and move everything to web-based services instead. Despite the level of comfort some members had with the text-based FreePort system, it was identified as being unsupportable in the future and that NCF members would be left on the wrong side of the growing digital divide
Digital divide
The Digital Divide refers to inequalities between individuals, households, business, and geographic areas at different socioeconomic levels in access to information and communication technologies and Internet connectivity and in the knowledge and skills needed to effectively use the information...
. Cope also emphasized that he thought much of the loss of members to commercial ISPs was due to their desire for web access, not realizing that NCF offered that alongside text-only access. Cope emphasized that NCF had developed a niche market in service provision - low income citizens who were at risk of being left out of the Internet and all its benefits. He indicated that these people were in need of training and assistance and that NCF was well placed to provide that to them. He concluded:
In late summer, NCF purchased and added three new 3Com
3Com
3Com was a pioneering digital electronics manufacturer best known for its computer network infrastructure products. The company was co-founded in 1979 by Robert Metcalfe, Howard Charney, Bruce Borden, and Greg Shaw...
RAS1500 servers to the existing stacks and also received a large quantity of scrapped servers, switches and other equipment from Alcatel
Alcatel
Alcatel Mobile Phones is a brand of mobile handsets. It was established in 2004 as a joint venture between Alcatel-Lucent of France and TCL Communication of China....
, including four 3-slot Tigris access servers. NCF continued to benefit from corporate donations to provide service to its members. The RAS1500 servers proved unreliable, and 3Com ended up providing a full refund for them.
Pressed by a continually shrinking membership, which then stood at 7,972 members, a drop of 25% over a year earlier, the NCF board voted on 21 November 2000 to terminate the Executive Director's position due to financial constraints and to end Chris Cope's employment in that position. At the next board meeting, the board voted to retain an Executive Director "if it can be afforded".
At the end of the year the organization set its priorities for the future, deciding that: "NCF's focus in 2001 is to provide its members with low-cost reliable dialup access to basic Internet services, and to organize help for people new to using the Internet."
NCF ended the year with 7590 members.
2001
NCF hired Ian MacEachern as the new Executive Director starting on 9 April and, following his successful run for the board, elected Chris Cope as President.
NCF adopted a strategy for the future that included:
- "Remain a donation-based organization"
- "Establish NCF as a 'brand,' giving it an identity outside the membership"
- "Develop strong and reliable basic services (including spam-reduction)"
- "Streamline registration and donation methods"
- "Make more use of volunteers"
NCF ended the year with 6,774 members.
2002
SpamAssassin
SpamAssassin is a computer program released under the Apache License 2.0 used for e-mail spam filtering based on content-matching rules. It is now part of the Apache Foundation....
and blacklisting was rolled out to combat the increasing spam problems on the Internet with these measures resulting in a dramatic decrease in spam.
To provide more technical assistance with the server upgrades and other issues NCF hired former Nortel
Nortel
Nortel Networks Corporation, formerly known as Northern Telecom Limited and sometimes known simply as Nortel, was a multinational telecommunications equipment manufacturer headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada...
employee Glenn Jackman as a second sysadmin in July. Glenn served NCF until late 2005. Executive Director Ian MacEachern resigned, effective 30 November, and was replaced by John Selwyn.
Selwyn quickly prepared an ambitious action plan for NCF that included moving to 56 kbps digital lines.
Selwyn stated the priorities and the board accepted them as:
NCF membership finished the year at 6,618 members.
2003
In 2003, under the new Executive Director, the organization received a new streamlined website that included e-commerce capabilities. For the first time new members could sign-up securely online, pay by credit card and complete their inputs to the SQL
SQL
SQL is a programming language designed for managing data in relational database management systems ....
database directly.
NCF had been located at Carleton University
Carleton University
Carleton University is a comprehensive university located in the capital of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The enabling legislation is The Carleton University Act, 1952, S.O. 1952. Founded as a small college in 1942, Carleton now offers over 65 programs in a diverse range of disciplines. Carleton has...
since its inception, but by 2003, due to the double cohort, the university was becoming pressed for space and NCF was forced to look for a new home for its offices. As a temporary measure over the summer, the NCF staff worked from home. In the fall, office space was found on campus once again.
By July, NCF had entirely switched to 56 kbps modems and had 184 digital lines available with a total of 276 planned, along with V.92 capability, upgraded from V.90. Executive Director John Selwyn said "Modem capacity is critical in member perception of value and quality."
NCF finished the year with a number of accomplishments completed, including:
- all-digital 56K v.92 modems and additional phone lines and modem-sharing software to allow fair access for everyone during peak times
- on-line database that allowed member processing in minutes
- upgrading and retention of the legacy FreePort text-based system
- in-house development of a custom SpamFilter
- introduction of personalized website members homepage
As a result NCF membership grew to 8,357 by year end, a 26% increase.
2004
Early in the year, NCF introduced its own discussion group software that allows members to set up groups and communicate with each other through "threaded" conversations.
A mid-year shortage of donations lead to a "universal participation" expectation, asking all members to provide either volunteer time or a cash donation based on which services they use. All members were expected to participate, unless unable due to "exigent financial circumstances". A small number of members vocally disagreed with the policy, but the majority supported it and the organization ended the year with donations up 34% in the last quarter over the same period in the previous year and membership up 10% over 2003.
2005
In March, NCF began examining the possibility of offering broadband service to members. Executive Director John Selwyn said:
In August 2005, NCF introduced DSL
Digital Subscriber Line
Digital subscriber line is a family of technologies that provides digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network. DSL originally stood for digital subscriber loop. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ,...
service for members. The fees from DSL access, set at $29.95 per month, are used to help subsidize the dial-up service for less advantaged residents. DSL technician Daniel Brousseau was hired to provide support to members using DSL.
Throughout the year, NCF continued to struggle financially, and focused on donation levels and on membership campaigns. The bottom line was assisted by the Executive Director not drawing his salary through much of the year and volunteering instead. NCF's child poverty access and members helping members funds were used to help local citizens in need to access the Internet. The number of members joining to use the new DSL service was steady, and finished the year with about 100 signed up. NCF finished the year with about 8000 members.
2006
In May 2006, the ongoing space constraint at Carleton University forced NCF to seek new office space off-campus. Over the summer, the organization located and moved into Suite 302 in the Trailhead building at 1960 Scott Street in the Westboro district of Ottawa. Given the organization's focus on serving the lower-income residents of the city, the location's excellent transit connections were a factor in choosing this location.
2007
There was enough migration of members from dial-up to DSL that in March the board approved a reduction in the number of dial-up lines by 23. NCF also started offering organizational Internet domain names for both websites and for e-mail.
NCF entered into an agreement with the Employment and Financial Assistance Branch of the City of Ottawa
City of Ottawa
The City of Ottawa is the corporate entity of municipal government in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The corporation is responsible for provision of services to the public as well as enforcement of municipal by-laws...
to conduct a trial Internet access program for families in financial distress.
At the end of 2007, Executive Director John Selwyn announced his intention to resign his position, and return to university in September 2008.
NCF finished the year with 1300 DSL members and 8000 members overall.
2008
RAID
RAID is a storage technology that combines multiple disk drive components into a logical unit...
array suffered a catastrophic failure. E-Mail service was restored within days, but stored e-mail was offline for weeks until restored by an intensive recovery effort. The array was replaced, and a back-up array was purchased as well. On 27 May 2008, NCF staff and members attended the Net Neutrality
Network neutrality
Network neutrality is a principle that advocates no restrictions by Internet service providers or governments on consumers' access to networks that participate in the Internet...
rally on Parliament Hill, John Selwyn spoke at the rally and NCF made a submission to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission opposing Bell Canada
Bell Canada
Bell Canada is a major Canadian telecommunications company. Including its subsidiaries such as Bell Aliant, Northwestel, Télébec, and NorthernTel, it is the incumbent local exchange carrier for telephone and DSL Internet services in most of Canada east of Manitoba and in the northern territories,...
's bandwidth throttling
Bandwidth throttling
Bandwidth throttling is a reactive measure employed in communication networks to regulate network traffic and minimize bandwidth congestion. Bandwidth throttling can occur at different locations on the network. On a local area network , a sysadmin may employ bandwidth throttling to help limit...
of DSL service, including NCF's.
In September 2008, the board hired NCF board member Rowland Few as the new Executive Director.
NCF finished 2008 with 2000 members using DSL service.
Membership
Over the years 75,000 people have been NCF members, although many have moved out of the area or moved up from NCF's original dial-up only service to commercial providers. The organization had about 8000 current and active members as of 2009.Many NCF members have gone on to careers in the Ottawa hi-tech industry after beginning with NCF dial-up access.
Servers
NCF's servers are housed at Carleton UniversityCarleton University
Carleton University is a comprehensive university located in the capital of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The enabling legislation is The Carleton University Act, 1952, S.O. 1952. Founded as a small college in 1942, Carleton now offers over 65 programs in a diverse range of disciplines. Carleton has...
and currently run Solaris 8.
External links
Studies
- Patrick, A.S. (1997). Media lessons from the National Capital FreeNet. Communications of the ACM, 40(7), 74-80.
- Patrick, A.S., & Black, A. (1997). Who is going online? Results from the National Capital FreeNet. Internet Research, 7(4), 305-319.
- Patrick, A.S., Black, A., & Whalen, T.E. (1995). Rich, young, male, dissatisfied computer geeks? Demographics and satisfaction from the National Capital FreeNet. In D. Godfrey & M. Levy (Eds.), Proceedings of Telecommunities 95: The International Community Networking Conference (pp. 83-107). Victoria, British Columbia, Canada: Telecommunities Canada.