From Frieda Werden, Producer,
WINGS: Women's International News Gathering Service,

Imagine my surprise:  I was reading an article in "The Computer Paper," one
of those free things that has reviews of new technology and lots of computer
ads, and came across this sentence: "It's an example of the kind of gift
economies prevalent on the Internet, like the free dynamic DNS service
(www.dynup.net) he also runs that lets thousands of clients host Web sites
on their home PCs."

The "he" is a fellow in Vancouver named Ryan Weber who put an antenna in his
window that gives his whole neighborhood free access to his high-speed
internet connection.  Then the article goes on to talk about connection
sharing technologies, their legality or illegality depending on the contract
you signed, how much they cost, how well they work under what conditions,
etc. A so-called "hotspot" seems to cost between $1000 and $150 "with a
basic antenna, an off-the-shelf wireless network adapter, and some technical
knowhow."  (I guess if you don't have the technical knowhow it would cost
more -- but it looks like a viable technology for sharing use of a single
high-speed connection in areas of low connectivity without everyone having
to frequent the same internet cafe. The main obstacle seems to be buildings,
billboards, and other things that obstruct line of sight, so it ought to
work if anything better in less developed parts of the world.)

What I liked especially was seeing someone use the term Gift Economy in
print in a very mainstream sort of publication.  The internet from its
inception has been largely a gift resource (which is one reason so many
dot-coms failed as businesses!), and I watch with alternating trepidation
and hope the struggle between those who would keep it so and those who seek
to enclose this commons as entirely as possible.  So far, the creativity of
the gift economy seems to be holding its own fairly well.

The last paragraph of the article reads as follows:

"Kamloops, B.C., and Portland, Ore., are among a number of cities studying
the idea of local communications infrastructure, and wireless could be used
instead of landlines.  The Wireless Commons Manifesto
(www.wirelesscommons.org) lays out these ideas for the future."

Here's the citation for the article:  Tupper, Peter, "Come on and take a
free WiFi ride," in The Computer Paper, BC Edition (Lower Mainland), May
2003, p. 28

The web site of the paper is www.canadacomputes.com



Frieda Werden, Producer,
WINGS: Women's International News Gathering Service,
Box 95090, Kingsgate
Vancouver BC V5T 4T8
Canada


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