PRESS RELEASE


"Building Virtual Networks":
a tour of Wales promoting the use of information
and communications technology (ICT) to allow
communities in Wales to work together


- From Monday 27th January to Friday 7th February members of the Earth Cymru
Network will be touring Wales presenting a series of evening workshops for
communities in Wales on developing 'virtual networks'. The workshops will
look at how computers can enable close communications between communities,
even in remote regions like Wales. They will also look at how computers will
develop over the next few years. In particular, the potential damage that
will be caused to home computers by attempts to restrict data piracy, and the
alternatives to these proposals created by the 'open source' software
community.

The Earth Cymru Network was created in 2002. It's aims are to support
environmental and social campaigns in Wales, and to assist the development of
campaign networks. The Network is made up of grassroots organisations and
activists with a wide experience of campaigning in Wales. In late 2002, the
Network commissioned a report on the potential for developing 'virtual
networks' - communities of interested people connected and working
electronically. The report, Building Virtual Networks (available online, see
below), outlined various options that The Earth Cymru Network could adopt to
develop virtual networking in Wales. This tour will promote some of these
options, and give the public to try them out 'hands on'.

The tour is being primarily organised by Paul Mobbs and Tim Shaw. Paul Mobbs
is a consultant on virtual organising and community campaigns, and developer
of the Community-Linux Training Centre (see below). Tim Shaw representing The
Earth Cymru Network, is the facilitator organising the workshop venues with
the local organisations hosting each event. Both will be present at each of
the workshops over the whole two week tour.

The evening workshops tour begins in Pontypridd on January 27th, before
moving on to Narberth (28th), Swansea (29th), Brithdir Mawr (30th),
Llandeilo (31st), Lampeter (3rd), Cefn Mawr (4th), Bangor (5th) and
Aberystwyth (6th). Another workshop may be held at another location on
Friday 7th if another venue becomes available. In addition, there is a
special day workshop being held by the Network on Saturday February 1st .
This is being host as part of the preparation for implementing the Building
Virtual Networks report. Invited participants will be able to help set the
priorities for the development of online information services for community
groups in Wales during 2003.

Apart from highlighting the potential for linking communities electronically,
the other major theme of the tour is the imminent change in the world of
computing created by 'digital rights management' (DRM). DRM is a method of
controlling how and when people are allowed to use information on their
computers. This process is being implemented by an alliance of the large
computer chip and software manufacturers in the USA, called the 'Trusted
Platform Computing Alliance' (TCPA).

What DRM means is that computer users will, in four or five years time, be
restricted from using their computers for the wide-range of tasks that they
are able to today. You will either be blocked from using or copying certain
types of computer programs or information. Or you will be required to pay, or
have some sort of credit account, to access information or use programs.
Potentially, you may have to pay each time you view certain web sites, or
have to pay by credit each time you run a certain program on your computer.

This will be extremely damaging to the use of computers, especially by
voluntary and community groups. However, there is an alternative. Gnu/Linux
is an alternative to the ubiquitous Microsoft Windows operating system.
Unlike Microsoft's products, programs created with the Linux system are
released free of charge. The Linux operating system, and hundreds of
programs, can also be bought cheaply on CD, or downloaded for free from the
Internet. As Linux is also distributed 'license free', it will also be free
of the contraints impose by DRM.

Linux is also at the heart of The Earth Cymru Network's plans for virtual
networking. Linux runs well on older computers. Therefore the Network can
assist communities in reclaiming old equipment, and using it with the Linux
operating system, at a fraction of the cost of new computer equipment. Linux,
being free, also means the community and voluntary groups are not penalised
for using software on more than one computer.

To assist the workshops, the tour will utilise the Community-Linux Training
Centre (CLTC). The CLTC is a portable network of computers developed
especially for training community groups in the use of computers and the
Internet (see the CLTC web site for more information - details below). For
this reason it can simulate all the major Internet services, and can be used
to teach and demonstrate network and Internet services without the need to
any Internet connection. It also has a battery pack, so it can work beyond
the mains power supply (the battery pack will be used when it visits the
Brithdir Mawr community in West Wales). We are therefore free to visit any
location, irrespective of whether they have telecommunications links or even
mains electricity. Note also that the Community-Linux Training Centre is
wholly Linux based, and so those attending the workshops will be able to try
out Linux and see how it performs.


For further information or interviews on the tour, or the issues that the
tour raises, contact:

# Tim Shaw - tel./fax 01558 685353, email  timshaw@gn.apc.org

# Paul Mobbs - tel./fax 01295 261864, email  mobbsey@gn.apc.org


The media are also welcome to attend any of the evening workshops, where we
would be happy to give interviews before or after the event.




Links

The Earth Cymru Network Tour Page  http://www.fraw.org.uk/earthcymru/vn_tour/

The Community-Linux Training Centre  http://www.fraw.org.uk/cltc/

Trusted Platform Computer Alliance  http://www.trustedcomputing.org/

'Windows 1984' (an anti-TCPA site)  http://www.windows1984.com/


For more general background material on computers, copyright, and their
impact on society we recommend John Naughton's column in Observer Business -
for back issues see  http://www.briefhistory.com/footnotes/