Staff Report on the August TeleCommunities '95 Conference in Victoria ===================================================================== Prepared by: Lisa Donnelly, Executive Director Ian! D. Allen, Systems Administrator 15 September 1995 References: TeleCommunties '95 "Equity on the Internet" International Community Networking Conference & First Annual General Meeting of TeleCommunities Canada August 19 - 23, 1995 Held at University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia Hosted by the Victoria Free-Net Association, The Department of Writing, University of Victory on behalf on Telecommunities Canada URL: http://www.swifty.com/TC95/cover.htm URL: http://www.freenet.mb.ca/tc/index.html URL: http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/freeport/freenet/conferences/menu NCF: go conference Introduction: ------------- Monday and Tuesday, August 21-22, were the dates of the actual conference sessions. The conference was organized in four parallel streams. Lisa Donnelly, Ian Allen, and Stephen Toy divided up the streams so that each person went to a different one. This report contains summaries of two of the four streams. For more information, full conference proceeding may become available on-line at one of the URL's in the References section beginning this document. (At the time of writing this document, we hadn't been able to find them.) A printed version of the conference proceedings can be signed out from the NCF Executive Director. If you have any specific questions pease write to Ian! Allen at aa610 or to Lisa Donnelly at am412. Wednesday, August 23, was the Telecommunities Canada Annual General Meeting that we all attended together. The Report on the Telecommunties Canada AGM is presented by NCF Board member Stephen Toy, who was the NCF representative. Telecommunties '95 "Equity on the Internet" Theme ------------------------------------------------- Equity on the Internet was the theme for this first international conference on community networking that brought together members of Free-Nets, Community Networks and providers of electronic community-based services. In addition to practical sessions on how to manage, improve and fund a Community-based Network, the conference explored the many facets of Equity that confront those who manage and utilize Community Networks. The conference was aimed at an international audience as well as at the many organizations which make up and support Telecommunities Canada. 1) Saturday, 19 August 1995 A pre-conference workshop was held on "How to start a Community Network." The workshop was targeted at individuals wishing to start a community computer network. Success stories were highlighted, as well as strategies for organizing, financing and operating a community based computer information system. NCF staff did not attend this day of activities. 2) Sunday, 20 August 1995 6:00pm - 9:00pm, Reception and Registration Ottawa found itself well-represented, with the following familiar faces in attendance: Garth Graham, Andrew Patrick, Lisa Donnelly, Stephen Toy, and Ian Allen. 3) Monday, 21 August 1995 "Models of Opportunity" A) Overview of Lectures 9:15am -10:15am Opening plenary with Keynote Speakers Attended by all conference participants - If you aren't with the decision makers, you'll be left out. How can *everyone* decide? - Consider the "apprentice model" of training: the consultants lay out the direction, then the community does the learning and the work. A.1) Lectures attended by NCF Executive Director, Lisa Donnelly 10:15am - 11:00am "Successful World Wide Web Marketing" Jill Ells worth, Ph.D., an Internet Marketing Consultant, went over how to create successful web pages and how to promote them. She spoke about traditional marketing concerns and how they translate on the Web. Much of the lecture focused on various ways in which to "engage" the viewer and build "brand recognition." Although the lecture was geared toward commercial organizations the information was also relevant to some of the challenges NCF will face when migrating to the World Wide Web. 11:15am - Noon "Free-Net Operations" This lecture was organized to allow Gareth Shearman of Victoria Free-Net, Bruce McComb of the Tri-Cities Free-Net and Andrew Patrick of the National Capital FreeNet to talk about how to plan and run a successful community network. In addition, the types of people that make up the membership of the NCF was to be discussed. The actual lecture consisted of Andrew Patrick only. He gave at outstanding and informative presentation on the Communications Research Centre's survey of NCF which focused on our demographics. Information on this survey can be accesses at the following URL: http://debra.dgbt.doc.ca/services-research/ 1:30pm - 3:15pm "The Social Firewall" This workshop was led by Victoria lawyer Mark Timmis. The discussions focused primarily on copyright issues. Additional topics included harassment and trademark laws. The workshop consisted of a questions-and-answers-style forum which allowed participants to ask a large variety of legal questions regarding copyright concerns. A.2) Lectures attended by NCF System Administrator, Ian! Allen 10:15am - 11:00am "Municipalities on the Internet" Per Kristensen showed how the City of Nanaimo (http://www.interspace.com/~nancity/) has used Web technology to improve communications with its citizens. One striking thing about the presentation was his ability to have the actual Web pages captured onto his laptop computer and displayed using Netscape onto the overhead LCD panel. He gave other examples of good content work being done, such as http://info.ic.gc.ca/champlain/champlain.html It was a good example of "minimum technology, maximum information". The city took basic Internet services and worked hard to get the content correct. 11:15am - Noon "The Apprentice Model of Internet Training" "[Dr.] Dottie Eastman [The Fielding Institute] is an outspoken supporter of an apprentice model of Internet training, in which consultants teach clients the skills they need to develop and maintain their own on-line communications systems rather than selling their own expertise." This session dealt with models of using consultants effectively: The Expert, The Collaborator, The Apprentice, The Workshop. She noted that the consultant who guides us to develop our own skills is not usually valued, since the perception is that "the consultant didn't do anything -- we did all the work". The business paradigm of expert consultants "serving" clients encourages dependency, when what we should be doing in community network envrironments is *empowering* clients. Hence -- the client as "apprentice", and the consultant as "collaborator". Be careful to observe who is getting taught and who is learning under traditional consultant models. Determine what *communication* you are trying to facilitate. 1:30pm - 2:15pm "The Manitoba Community Networks Model" Michael Gillespie outlined Blue Sky's unique province-wide community networks model. The local nets around the province are named after the region, not a city. To finance a local net connection, businesses and power users in the region are offered bandwidth for a fee (e.g. $25/month) that subsidises the entire community net access. Heavy use of 56K frame relay technology (max charge $660/month). Discussion of whether the Phone Tarrif really permits modems on Centrex equipment -- Calgary was prohibited from using centrex and currently pays full business rates for their lines. 2:30pm - 3:15pm "The Chebucto Suite Model" David Trueman (Internet Person of the Year) presented their Chebucto telnet/lynx system -- users dial in or telnet in to a Chebucto machine and get put into a Lynx WWW client. That client has been modified to permit it to safely run programs such as news and mail readers. According to its contract with NSTN, its current Internet provider, Chebucto must not offer SLIP/PPP access. (NSTN recently relaxed some restrictions and FTP is no longer prohibited.) Users have home page and mail quotas: 500 Kbytes each. The budget is about $340,000/year, and they can't afford to spend much money on staff. This means: - Choices aren't available, since they are too hard to support. There is only one mail reader and one news reader. - Office procedures have to be foolproof and automated. (They enter financial data twice, to catch errors.) Chebucto wans information providers on the local system "where they belong"; they are not content simply to point to other systems. They are working on an online backup/retrieval system for user files. RCS is used to control all versions of HTML files. The system is fully indexed; the index takes 33% of the space of the original data. They are working on the concept of document expiry, perhaps even paragraph expiry. They support "virtual community networks" where, on login, you get presented with the home page of your "virtual" network (running on Chebucto hardware) rather than the Chebucto home page. Their Board approved money to hire someone to make the Chebucto Suite ready for export to other community networks. That work will be completed this fall, at which point anyone may simply pick up the software, change a few configuration lines, and it will customize and install itself automatically. When asked whether Chebucto was a "home" or a "hotel" to its users, David replied that it was "a small room in a boarding house". 8:00pm "Women on the Internet" public lecture Susan Simmons, Dottie Eastman, Cyd Strickland: "With more than 40 years of combined Internet experience, these women have a unique outlook on how women are participating on the Internet, and what the future holds for women on-line. They will discuss some interesting ways community computer networks can increase their female membership". Panel opinions: - the homeless use public access terminals - why are there not more formal training programs? - trainers must be matched to trainees; women should train women - teach people how communicating online is different than doing it in person - "experience connection with others" - "this isn't technology -- it's communication" The women present felt it was a very important first meeting. A.3) 3:30pm - 4:30pm Teleconference with Australian Participants (for all conference attendees) A mixed success -- half the presentation dealt with a report on "tele-commuting"; the more interesting half dealt with electronic cottages in which people found network resources. The conference was done live via compressed video over ISDN. 4) Tuesday, 22 August 1995 "Landmines and Other Detours on the Infobahn" A) Overview of Lectures 9:15am -10:15am Opening plenary with Keynote Speakers Dr. Jon Gerrard, federal Secretary of State for Science, Research, and Development, praised the Chebucto Suite as "wonderful Canadian software", and applauded the Manitoba Blue Sky project for reaching everyone in the province, not just those in big cities. David Flaherty, BC's Information and Privacy Commissioner (http://www.cafe.net/gvc/foi/), gave an excellent introduction to his upcoming talk on privacy and freedom of information. Susan Simmons ("Cyber Sue") challenged everyone present to do something about the under-representation of women on the net. A.1) Lectures attended by NCF Executive Director, Lisa Donnelly 10:15am - 11:00am "The Information Highway Advisory Council" Speaker Dr. Jon Gerrard, the federal Secretary of State for Science, Research and Development, gave a very informative update on the IHAC activities to date. The lecture became very interesting during the last half of the session. During this time question were raised from the floor. Attendees had a variety of pointed questions for Dr. Gerrard. Due to the level of speaking from the floor we ran out of time and did not get many of the questions answered. Some of the Questions were: * "Will the IHAC report resolve the Telecommunications & Broadcasting Act?" * "What will be the continued role o f the CRTC?" * "Will the IHAC report and subsequent actions from it get the federal and business policies in place that are needed to support community networks?" Dr. Gerrard stated that the IHAC will maintain a presence on the Internet and share information as readily as possible. He also stated the IHAC report is just a beginning and that we are all on a learning curve. The changes we want will take time and this is still the early stage for many large scale changes. 11:15am - Noon "Defamation and Other Limits on Free Speech" This lecture was led by Donald Farquhar, Q.C. and Don Vipond, editorial page editor for the Victoria Times Colonist newspaper. Mr. Farquhar reviewed standard defamation law. Libel, slander and various types of defamation were also covered. This was an extremely interesting lecture as it also examined the impacts of defamation versus censorship. The importance of a good Directors and Officers Liability insurance was stressed as well and the importance of an Acceptable Use Policy. There was also brief discussion about the carrier versus publisher role of an on-line organization of any kind. According to Mr. Farquhar all on-line services are publishers but the courts are still deciding on this and having carefully crafted guidelines that absolve an on-line community from editorial responsibilities of any kind are crucial. 1:30pm - 2:15pm "WWW-World Wide Web or World without Women?" This lecture was led by Susan Simmons, a gender equity specialist. Issues regarding women on the net, what might be preventing women from participating on-line and what kinds of projects are in the works to make Internet communities more welcoming to women were discussed in a question and answer-style forum. 2:30pm - 3:15pm "Provincial Government Policy" Byron Bernard, director of the B.C. Government Electronic Highway Initiative discussed the B.C. government's plans for Internet development. A.2) Lectures attended by NCF System Administrator, Ian! Allen 10:15am - 11:00am "Privacy and Security" This was given by David Flaherty, BC's Information and Privacy Commissioner (http://www.cafe.net/gvc/foi/), recognized as one of the world's leading experts on privacy and data protection. - what is sensitive depends on the person - an audit trail of "who asked for this data" is important - end-user security is problematic; tell people that their access to the data is logged - need rules of the road for collecting and storing personal data - create a "privacy impact score sheet" - anonymity is important for "vulnerable people"; he presented anecdotes about people who need to remain anonymous 11:15am - noon "Building On-Line Communities" Presented by Donna Cardinal (cardinal@web.apc.org). - network globally, act locally - what of the "Blind Spots on the Information Highway"? - should we "intervene" to increase participation by certain groups? - too often we are called "consumers", not "individuals" or "citizens" - "intentional communities" have a special bonding that comes from the common intention to belong; a community of learners that is helping, non-judgemental, and attentive - Envisioning: to develop a plan, imagine the distant future when everything is the way you want it to be; back up a short time and imagine what happened just prior to that to make it come true; back up a bit more and imagine what happened to make that happen; repeat until you get back to the present. Now reverse the steps, and you have a plan for getting from now to the target. 1:30pm - 3:15pm "Operating Software" A fine collection of technical people assembled to exchange notes on their nine respective community networks. Hardware ranged from one-line systems on DOS platforms up to NCF's five machine cluster. Ian talked with David Trueman of Chebucto, and we will explore the possibility of doing joint projects to avoid duplicating effort. 3:30pm - 4:30pm Telecommunities '95 Closing Comments Conclusion: "Build community nets." "Follow up." Wednesday - TeleCommunities Canada Annual General Meeting See Stephen Toy's report. Contact addresses: tc-members@freenet.mb.ca catfish@freenet.mb.ca (legal issues) ccndc@freenet.mb.ca (Canadian Community Networks Design Centre list) money@freenet.mb.ca (development and fund-raising list) tc-board@freenet.mb.ca (closed board list) xdrones@freenet.mb.ca (closed exec directors list) -Lisa -IAN! -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lisa K. Donnelly, xx412@freenet.carleton.ca Executive Director, National Capital FreeNet/Libertel de la Capitale nationale -----------------------------------------------------------------------------