A Brief History of Cleveland Free-Net

                               by Jay Hauben
                               jrh29@columbia.edu

[Editor's Note: The following article is taken from a talk
presented at the Mid-Manhattan Branch of the New York Public  
Library, July 10, 1995.]


     The Cleveland Free-Net computer networking system is often
cited as the grandfather of the worldwide community computer 
networking movement. This movement takes as its goal the provision
by community networks of free or at-cost dialup and public terminal 
access to community and world wide communication. Cleveland
Free-Net and other community networks are made possible by
volunteers from all sectors of the community. In 1992, Cleveland
Free-Net had well over 40,000 registered users making more than
10,000 accesses per day. Over 250 volunteer system operators
maintained and upgraded the system and kept the information fresh
or got answers to questions posted by users. This model is proving 
attractive to citizens around the world. It is worth looking
at how the first Free-Net got started in Cleveland.

     Cleveland Free-Net traces its origin to 1984 when an education 
professor, Tom Grundner, was involved in monitoring the quality of 
education offered to medical students and interns who were spread 
over five Cleveland hospitals and clinics. He devised a system that 
used an Apple II+ computer and a 300 baud modem to receive 
questions over phone lines from the medical students and interns 
who had access to a microcomputer or a computer terminal with a 
modem. The questioners were provided within a reasonable time, 
with answers from relevant doctors. The system was eventually 
called Doc-in-the-Box. Within a week of starting up the system, the 
telephone number to reach the central Apple II+ computer had gotten 
out and lay people started to leave medical questions with the hope 
the doctors would answer them also. The doctors answered all 
questions. What was in many cases quality medical advice was 
available to some who ordinarily might not have been able to afford 
the usual fee or find a doctor for such advice. It dawned on those 
involved that a new medium for dispensing medical information was 
opening up.

     In 1985 Grundner expanded this system which was intended
especially for medical students and interns to a new system open
to all who had a medical question and a computer and modem. He
called the new system Saint Silicon's Hospital and Information
Dispensary. Saint Silicon operated in some ways like a real 
hospital. When you used your modem to dial up, the first question 
on the screen was, "Have you been a patient here before?" If you
answered No, the next screen had the title, "Admitting Desk" and
required you to provide some information about yourself. Then you
could post medically related questions in the message area of the
system called the Clinic to be answered by a doctor within 24
hours. A doctor would read the question and post the question and
his answer on the system so all who dialed in to Saint Silicon
could read them. Within a few weeks of the launch of Saint Silicon, 
a steady average of more than 300 calls were being received per 
week, saturating the one line system.

     Grundner wrote up the Saint Silicon experience in an article
for the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).* At about the
same time, representatives of American Telephone and Telegraph
(AT&T) offered to donate an AT&T 3B2-400 Unix based minicomputer
to support the operation and expansion of Grundner's experimental
system. Unix is a multitasking, time-sharing computer operating
system and the AT&T 3B2-400 was a much more powerful computer
then the Apple II+. With the better equipment, Grundner designed
a system based on the networking software used to make the news-
group system know as Usenet possible. The new system was intended
for the posting of questions and answers across the whole spec-
trum of areas that make up a community. Grundner envisioned an
electronic city with a post office, government house, library,
court house for legal questions, etc., in addition to a hospital.
Eventually the system would also have hobbyist areas, special 
interest areas, and kiosks and coffee shops for people to meet at
and have discussions. This was Free-Net 1, the first version of
Cleveland Free-Net (1985-1989). The sections of Free-Net were
staffed by doctors, lawyers, hobbyists, etc., each contributing
as part of his or her job or voluntarily. People who dialed into
Cleveland Free-Net were never charged to use the system nor did
those who provided information or their expertise get paid by the
Free-Net.

     The museums and parks and theaters and clubs of Cleveland
voluntarily provided the information about themselves and some
staff time and in exchange that information was readily accessible 
by the users of the Free-Net. Doctors, lawyers, car mechanics, 
etc. volunteered in large numbers. One incentive being that
Free-Net users satisfied with the online answers to relevant
questions often became paying clients and customers. Someone I
know is no longer on crutches because a doctor who showed a
genuine understanding of her condition by his response to her
post on Cleveland Free-Net was chosen by her to do an operation.
The success of that operation solved a condition doctors in her
own state said was permanent.

     In 1989, Case Western Reserve University became the dominant
sponsor of Cleveland Free-Net. It supported development of the
software and eventually took over the system, now Free-Net 2, the
Cleveland Free-Net that exists today. This Free-Net includes many
areas of active discussion, some for senior citizens, some for
teenagers, some for any group with a common interest. Also, by
giving its users access to Usenet newsgroups, Free-Net makes it
possible for people in Cleveland to be communicating and 
interacting with Usenet users all over the world. Cleveland 
Free-Net serves as a means of limited free Internet access for 
its users who each get a sizable electronic mail storage area, 
limited file handling and transfer capability, and connectivity to
other Free-Nets in the U. S. and around the world. For many people, 
Cleveland Free-Net has served as the starting point for their 
online activities. And as an example Cleveland Free-Net has given 
impetus to a global community computer networking movement. By 
1995 there were at least 150 similar community networking systems 
up or soon to be up around the world and many more in some
stage of planning. There are organizing committees in at least 40
U.S. States, all across Canada and in 10 or more other countries.

     Some of the guiding vision behind the community networking
movement is that every community will benefit if all the citizens
of that community have free access to global communication tech-
nology and to information about community resources. If access
has to be paid for by the users, some segment of the community
will be left out both from use of the resources but also as a
resource. For many community networks the name Free-Net conveys
their principle that access has to be free of cost to the user.
Some communities like Seattle, Washington provide terminals or
computers in public libraries to fulfill this requirement. In
most communities where community networks are being organized
there is however opposition from some who want to charge for 
access. Also, there are expenses involved for the equipment and
especially for leasing phone lines even if all the staffing and
administration is done by volunteers. A widely verified assessment 
is that in North America the line leasing expense amounts to
about $8 to $12 per user per year (roughly $1.00 per user per
month). The challenge to each organizing or operating committee
is to solve these and similar problems. Even Cleveland Free-Net
is currently facing the problem that Case Western Reserve 
University may withdraw some of the $50,000 annual budget that 
has been its sponsorship contribution in the last few years.

     There are many active community oriented people and some
government bodies throughout the world who see some level of 
community provided access to community based computer network 
information and communication as crucial to modern life. There are
people in many cities and rural areas who are looking to a 
community network or Free-Net as a first step into the 
telecommunications revolution. Cleveland Free-Net has been 
an inspiration to many such people.
    

*"Interactive Medical Telecomputing: An Alternative Approach to
Community Health Education," NEJM, Vol 314 no 15, April 10, 1986,
pp. 982-985.

-------------------------------- 
Note: The sources of information for this article were help from 
people on Cleveland Free-Net (telnet free-net-in-a.cwru.edu), an 
e-mail correspondence from Tom Grundner, the NEJM article, and a 
chapter in The On-Line User's Encyclopedia: Bulletin Boards and 
Beyond, by Bernard Adoba, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA., 1993.  
--------------------------------

 [Author's Note: In late 1995 it was reported that Tom Grundner
resigned as Director of the National Public Telecommunications
Network. Subsequently, it was reported that the Deputy Director
also resigned. The NPTN had been formed by Grundner in September
1989 to coordinate the activities of the Free-Nets that formed on
the model of Cleveland Free-Net.

     On the mailing list serving members of the NPTN affiliated
Free-Nets, questions were raised as to what was happening. The new 
leadership responded that it will take a little while to put the 
finances back in order and would not answer the questions until 
then. Many subscribers to the list were not satisfied and 
requested a national meeting to discuss the crisis, assess the 
situation and propose ways forward. When the new leadership turned
down that proposal, there were submissions to the list documenting 
a long history of top down unhelpful NPTN practices and the
lack of democratic forms within NPTN to deal with the crisis. In
a similar way, the recently formed NPTN affiliated New York City
Free-Net Organizing Committee has held no public meetings nor
shared with those interested any of its inner workings or 
documents.]
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Reprinted from Amateur Computerist Vol 7 no 1. Free from jrh@umcc.umich.edu
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