Lilliputians Build Alternative Internet Service
ilsott | 11.01.2005 23:02 | Indymedia | Technology
Indymedia Italy Article on ReteLilliput offering alternative internet service. 
http://italy.indymedia.org/news/2004/12/699143.php
Another consumer is possible. The idea is clear: Critical consumption is also possible in the field of computers. At Lilliput Network (Rete Lilliput) they have taken this commitment seriously and therefore the creation of Lillinet, a real alternative to Libero, Tiscali, Yahoo, and all those companies (providers) allowing free connection to the Internet and provision of an e-mail address. The mechanism is easy (and totally free of charge): Go to their site ( http://www.lillinet.org) and register. Together with an mail address (such as 
mario@lillinet.org) you get the option to connect by modem to the Net dialling-up a specific phone number (same for the whole of Italy) at local call cost. Messages can be downloaded to your private mail or read online just as you would do with any other commercial provider.
The purpose: to snaffle a piece of the Internet, that of free Internet and mail, which today is in the hands of a big business group which sells users' private details and floods their computers with advertising banners. The entire project has been built using free software, and besides, Lillinet serves as a means of financing Rete Lilliput. In fact, a portion of the profit made by connexion charges is diverted to the welfare cooperative which manages this service (for free) and so is poured back into the Net. In this way, the activists contribute to Lilliput's business without throwing away more money than required, as it would be the case with providers such as Libero or Tiscali .
"We prefer to define Lillinet as a Gas (grupo di acquisto solidale in Italian), a fair trade company" says Lorenzo Salvadorini of Nodo lillipuziano di Pisa, also a member of the working group starting the initiative. "In the absence of an “ethical” telephone service provider (for the time being it can be found at Edisontel management. Author's note) a proposal has come up to gather a list of users wanting another kind of provider committed to the movement and not to profit making, and for which email addresses would become a publicity vehicle". This proposal, which will run until June, has already attracted the support of about a hundred people. More services will be added in the future, such as online and telephone tech support, the creation of a mailing list, web maintenance, and ADSL and high speed Internet connexion.
http://italy.indymedia.org/news/2004/12/699143.php Another consumer is possible. The idea is clear: Critical consumption is also possible in the field of computers. At Lilliput Network (Rete Lilliput) they have taken this commitment seriously and therefore the creation of Lillinet, a real alternative to Libero, Tiscali, Yahoo, and all those companies (providers) allowing free connection to the Internet and provision of an e-mail address. The mechanism is easy (and totally free of charge): Go to their site (
http://www.lillinet.org) and register. Together with an mail address (such as mario@lillinet.org) you get the option to connect by modem to the Net dialling-up a specific phone number (same for the whole of Italy) at local call cost. Messages can be downloaded to your private mail or read online just as you would do with any other commercial provider. The purpose: to snaffle a piece of the Internet, that of free Internet and mail, which today is in the hands of a big business group which sells users' private details and floods their computers with advertising banners. The entire project has been built using free software, and besides, Lillinet serves as a means of financing Rete Lilliput. In fact, a portion of the profit made by connexion charges is diverted to the welfare cooperative which manages this service (for free) and so is poured back into the Net. In this way, the activists contribute to Lilliput's business without throwing away more money than required, as it would be the case with providers such as Libero or Tiscali .
"We prefer to define Lillinet as a Gas (grupo di acquisto solidale in Italian), a fair trade company" says Lorenzo Salvadorini of Nodo lillipuziano di Pisa, also a member of the working group starting the initiative. "In the absence of an “ethical” telephone service provider (for the time being it can be found at Edisontel management. Author's note) a proposal has come up to gather a list of users wanting another kind of provider committed to the movement and not to profit making, and for which email addresses would become a publicity vehicle". This proposal, which will run until June, has already attracted the support of about a hundred people. More services will be added in the future, such as online and telephone tech support, the creation of a mailing list, web maintenance, and ADSL and high speed Internet connexion.
ilsott