Building Community Internet Networks - Part 3

Building Community Internet Networks – Part 3

In the mid-1980’s RAIN Community Network was forming as a BBS system designed to link public library, city hall, community non-profits and small business and small farmers together.

Up until 1992 our main conversations with other Network developers were primarily about the issue of “user interface”. Early work with BBS systems and early Internet tools like Gopher did not provide what was needed. The “Network” or as it was to become the “Internet” was not the main point of discussion.

There was a need to resolve the human to network server interface and get a Framework established for putting education, health, local government and non-profit agency as well as business information online in the most accessible way.

When we decided to move from the University out into the Community there was suddenly a great deal of conversation and cause for meetings regarding the new issue “should the Internet bandwidth be given over to the public? Many in the Academic community felt the Network should be kept for research and academic use only”. We had argued that the Community at large had as much use for the bandwidth for health, education, business and local government as the University did. We were lucky. Then State Senator Jack O’Connell was very supportive of the early efforts to build this new technology into the Community. Ultimately, when we began the first of what would be 5 USDA Rural Distance Learning and Telemedicine grant projects that would take our Network model out to 150 rural communities, he and Congresswoman Capps continued to be a strong supporters of the Community Internet Network as a necessary part of the larger Technology growth.

The Internet is now very much Private Enterprise. Back then there was a feeling that it was a “Public Utility”, something created through Government funding that should remain a resource for the Public.

But back in 1989/90, we sat in the most remarkable meetings with professors, administrators and government representatives while the issue was discussed. In the end, we took RAIN Community Internet out into the community starting up a Hub at the Santa Barbara Unitarian Church where we made our first 100 2400kbps baud modems active in 1991. The Network kept that Community Technology Hub location until 1997 when we moved to State Street in Santa Barbara to open the regions first Technology Literacy Skills campus with a computer lab, teaching tools and a library of resources for the community to grow with. Public Access to the Internet was Free.

As the Internet becomes more and more an Internet Resource with management and control shared between many Countries, it is important to recall what some of the original goals and expectations were. Should management of the Network remain with the United States or should the United Nations be made responsible for management of this Global Resource or should the responsibility go to each Country on a revolving schedule?