MOVED

That in order to serve better its members and its community, 
National Capital Freenet begin immediately the process of 
reorganizing itself as a cooperative.

Moved by: Sandy Campbell dt820
Seconded by: Jenny Lee Campbell da777


RATIONALE

NCF's basic organization, that is, its "governance structure," was put 
in place when the cyberworld was young.  It was an outstanding 
child of its time, on the cutting-edge of the new electronic frontier-- 
but the times have changed.  NCF's basic structure has not and has 
been overtaken and left behind.  If it does not modernize itself 
quickly, it will become to community networking what Alexander 
Graham Bell's "Silver Dart" became to aviation-- an historical 
footnote.

"Governance structure" is a crucial factor in whether or not NCF will 
be able to survive in today's intensively-comptetive atmosphere.  We 
are now in the cyberworld's equivalent of the rocket, the SST, the 
jumbo jet-- and it's changing by the minute.  Our Silver Dart 
approach is quaint and charming, but it simply can't compete.

NCF may be able to reinvent and reconfigure itself in time to 
preserve and pursue the concepts on which it was founded-- a 
community organization, financed, owned, and controlled by it 
members-- not-for-profit in the sense that any "profit" accrues to the 
community, not to any individual.  Simply: A group of citizens who 
pool their resources and knowledge to provide a valuable asset for 
themselves and for their fellow-citizens.

The "cooperative" type of organization is exactly appropriate to 
NCF's needs.  An example of how it could work is the eminently-
successful Mountain Equipment Co-op, whose rules could adapted 
as a model for an NCF Co-op.  (Details are readily available on 
MEC's webpage.)

It seems clear that NCF cannot survive, let alone continue to pursue 
its fundamental objectives, if it does not configure itself to "compete" 
in the rapidly-changing world in which it must function.  Becoming a 
"business-like" cooperative is the way out of the confusion and 
uncertainty which now afflicts it.