The Greater New Orleans Free-Net started as one of the early community internet projects in the United States. It came out of Louisiana in the early 1990s. Like many other Free-Net systems in their time, this was conceptualized as a manner of public access to online services and information resources, emphasizing community service and inclusiveness. Formed in 1993, GNOFN had as its objective the providing of access to the internet to anyone who had no, or limited, means of paying for a commercial service. It was particularly valuable at a time when the Internet was little known to the masses and was limited to universities, research institutions, and government agencies.
GNOFN's core vision was to connect the people in the Greater New Orleans area through a hub that enabled one to connect, share information, and access services, events, and resources that existed. This was particularly fitting for a city as culturally rich and diverse as New Orleans, with deep economic disparities and significant limitations in technology access. GNOFN provided the means for learning, communication, and interaction-when free or low-cost access was given-out in ways that had previously been unimaginable to them. It represented, in fact, an important step toward digital literacy and toward the bridging of the digital divide well in advance of those kinds of issues gaining visibility at the national or global level.
In other words, GNOFN was a free dial-up bulletin board system that used a local number to connect users with access to the internet. In days when Internet access often meant long-distance charges and heavy fees, access was just what many needed to begin exploring this new digital frontier without the prohibitive costs. In all, once connected, users could access everything from local news to health resources to government information. They could also email, use discussion forums, and browse websites, though these capabilities were much slower and smaller in scale than today's.
GNOFN has the particular merit of having been designed to be utilized with community participation in mind. The service was not to be merely a vehicle for providing information but was also to act as a method of civic participation, creating a sense of community ownership. This was underpinned by local partnerships with schools, libraries, and not-for-profit organizations that would ensure the wide diffusion of the GNOFN vision. Many of the local libraries also provided terminals for logging onto the GNOFN, further extending the reach for those not having a computer at home. Not least, such partnerships augmented the financial sustainability of GNOFN, since most funding came via grants, donations, and volunteer efforts rather than through conventional revenue models.
Another major part of GNOFN's mission entailed an educational aspect. Volunteers and activists involved with the Free-Net organized a series of workshops and training sessions teaching people how to use computers and the internet. In large measure, it was through these workshops that people were able to learn the skills necessary to function with a sense of independence with regard to digital technology. By this, GNOFN was not only providing a service but was actually creating a generation of new users who, in turn, would develop or contribute to the emergent digital economy. For most of them, GNOFN represented the first touch with online connectivity-a foundational experience which introduced them into what could be done on the Internet.
In the same way, as technology began to evolve, it clearly showed that the dial-up infrastructures put into place by GNOFN had an end. Beginning in the late 1990s, broadband internet became widespread, offering much higher speeds and greater capacity than was possible on dial-up Free-Net systems. In addition, community-based projects such as GNOFN also started to be replaced by the extension of commercial ISPs themselves. In light of pressures for high-speed connections now available, and with growing affordability from private service providers, many users continued their migration to these commercial ISPs through which was offered more than the functions GNOFN provided.
But despite these challenges, GNOFN continued to provide an important resource to those unserved and underserved by the commercial internet. Still, however, as federal and state governments increasingly shifted their attention and resources to private sector broadband expansion, community internet projects like GNOFN struggled to compete. Grant money was becoming increasingly scarce, volunteer efforts were flagging, and thus the economic model that had sustained GNOFN began to erode. By the early years of the 2000s, many Free-Net projects across the country shared these issues in one way or another and started to close, reorganize, or transfer services to other institutions.
Yet today, as cities and communities struggle with the thorny issues of digital equity and access, the story of GNOFN is relevant. The Greater New Orleans Free-Net is reminiscent of those early days of this internet-when it was a collective resource that would cement ties among communities and widen horizons of opportunities for everyone. While new programs now work to grapple with the same issues with newer technologies, GNOFN's legacy is one of being a forerunner for what community-centered connectivity can accomplish. Its commitment to access, education, and community involvement continues to inspire efforts toward an all-inclusive internet.