<nettime> Internet Hosting Collective -- Call for Participants (fwd)

[mark <beast@dojo.tao.ca>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 2000 18:36:30 +0000 (GMT)
From: taylor <taylor@tao.ca>
Reply-To: tao-org@tao.ca
To: tao-org@tao.ca
Subject: tao: Internet Hosting Collective -- Call for Participants (fwd)


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 2000 13:58:06 -0400
From: Jesse Sanford <jesse@columbia.edu>
To: hostcollective@onebox.com
Subject: Internet Hosting Collective -- Call for Participants


INTERNET HOSTING COLLECTIVE -- CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS

[ Please forward widely to concerned people and mailing lists. ]


A loose group of artists and grassroots activists in New York City is
forming to discuss possibilities for setting up a free, collectively-
managed internet hosting service for projects that can't afford to pay
standard rates for such services, or which could benefit from Internet
services for which Onebox, ListBot and Geocities are inadequate.

We're interested in creating a segment of Internet space for use in
projects at the crossroads of activism, art, and technology.

We're interested in providing access to information that might
otherwise be inaccessible.

We're interested in bringing the tools developed by the free software
movement to people who are part of free society movements, and
contributing to the free software movement along the way.

 
WHY IS THIS PROJECT NECESSARY?

The economics of Internet access are ruthless, especially for
information providers.  Only the most basic services are available for
free, and there are very real costs associated with the bandwidth,
hardware, physical space and technical expertise necessary to support
Internet serving equipment.  If the Internet is to be of use for
noncommercial ends, or for controversial art and progressive activism,
it is vital that we create, expand and maintain spaces in which these
ordinary economics do not apply.


WHO COULD BENEFIT FROM THIS PROJECT?

Are you working on a noncommercial project that could benefit from
internet-based services like the following?

 -- complex web sites that require custom programming
 -- news and discussion systems
 -- networked databases
 -- email addresses and mailing lists
 -- unique domain names
 -- anonymity for website contributors
 -- encrypted information storage

Do you need to provide material on your web site that is potentially
too controversial for a free web provider like Geocities, or simply
want an ad-free site with a better URL?

Could your organization benefit from networked, web-accessible
databases of things like mailing lists, resource information, and so
forth?

Do you need full control over your internet server (i.e., root access)
in order to complete your project?

If so, we can't help you yet! -- But with your help, perhaps one day
these services will be available.


HOW CAN I PARTICIPATE?

We are forming a collective to meet and discuss possibilities for
working together to provide all these services.  If you are interested
in helping to make these services available, if you can lend time,
money, advice, or expertise, please join our mailing list by visiting
the web page http://hostcollective.listbot.com.

Nothing has yet been decided!  We do not know what kind of projects
we'll host, where we'll host them, how we'll find the resources we
need.  Your participation could make a big difference, and nothing in
this email message is set in stone.

We're exploring the resources already available: from the excellent
services provided by TAO (www.tao.ca), based in Canada, to hosting
services provided pro bono elsewhere.  If you know of people or
projects with whom we should be in touch, please let us know at
<hostcollective@onebox.com>.


JOIN OUR MAILING LIST!

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED in helping us put this system together, please
join our mailing list by visiting the following web page and entering
your email address in the form.

http://hostcollective.listbot.com

We hope to begin discussion online and hold a physical meeting in a
few weeks.

Thanks!


- --
Jesse Sanford <jesse@columbia.edu>, for the developing collective
June 26, 2000

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