free-net

free-net, network of community-based bulletin-board systems (BBSs) that, beginning in 1994, made online public information available to local citizens. Often based in public libraries, free-net community networks were accessible through local phone dial-ups and often were either free or nearly so to users (some asked for $25 annual donations). Free-nets were the first connection many people ever had to the broader Internet, through such services as e-mail and online information posted by governments, schools, libraries, and specific cultural and interest groups. The free-net movement remained strong into the late 1990s but was eventually replaced by commercial Internet service providers (ISPs) and the World Wide Web in the 2000s.

American psychologist Tom Grundner created the free-net model at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He became interested in creating an online network that could be accessed by people seeking health information. In 1984 Grundner launched the “St. Silicon’s Hospital and Information Dispensary,” a medical bulletin board that proved so successful that it attracted early funding from AT&T and Ohio Bell. That encouraged Grundner to devise a wider network, and in 1986 he released the Cleveland Free-Net, the first true free-net system. The Cleveland Free-Net attracted 7,000 registered users during its first year and allowed people to post messages online and form discussion threads that could be read and responded to by anyone on the network.

Inevitably, other cities began picking up on the idea of generating community conversation using computer technologies. As the movement spread, cities generally based their local free-nets at public libraries, as most people did not yet have personal computers at home. Municipalities often built local electronic networks using government funds, supplemented by private donations, though the systems were invariably run by volunteers.

In 1989 Grundner formed the National Public Telecomputing Network (NPTN) to foster the creation of more local networks across the United States. Existing free-nets were encouraged to join NPTN; they could either pay $2,000 a year for membership or release names of their local users for fund-raising purposes. By 1996 there were 70 free-nets around the country, and NPTN had plans to help bring another 115 online in the United States and in 10 other countries.

However, free-nets had a number of problems that contributed to their demise. They relied on volunteers, which meant that staffing and service could be haphazard and unprofessional. Despite successes in large cities like Cleveland, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Tallahassee, Florida, free-nets came to appeal largely to smaller communities that were still underserved by then emerging local dial-up Internet access, though that situation changed as ISPs began to sell Internet service over local phone exchanges around the country. Many free-nets were small operations that could not afford to offer the amenities of commercial providers like America Online (AOL) and had fewer telephone lines and modems. It could be frustratingly difficult for callers to get through, especially during periods of peak use. Given the growing popularity of the World Wide Web, NPTN filed for bankruptcy in December 1996, and the original Cleveland Free-Net followed suit three years later.