MissionStatement for PersonalTelco:
Personal Telco is a grass roots effort to empower people to build the infrastructure through which their data flows. By creating, packaging and disseminating Open Source tools, documentation and community support we are building city wide networks which are open to, and maintained by, the public.
Other Thoughts
"PersonalTelco should distinguish itself not as a bunch of technical folks who can do it, but a bunch of technical folks that can do it with style and common sense." -- LonnieWormley
"We must have the attitude of a medic coming to the rescue to help someone that is injured by the prostitution technology of the Internet by corporations. Along the way we show them that it is OK to solve a problem together and take control of chaos when it is appropriate." -- LonnieWormley
"I realized the P2P refrain should always be the echo of every group action so that this community is open source, resource sharing, and a revolutionary tool to defeat monopoly of the wired ISP tyrants." -- DennisMunsterman
"I think we ought to be thinking a bit broader- read [http://www.nonprofits.org/npofaq/03/21.html "What should our mission statement say?"]. I would advocate for a short statement that states our purpose clearly and generally. Something like: To create, support, and maintain community information networks. The Open Source stuff, etc. is good, but it is a method of achieving our purpose". --BillHolmstrom
"Rather than being a part of the internet, we are now internet consumers. We pay monthly fees for single routes to "upstream" resources. It is this powerless, dependent situation, that wireless(and wired) metropolitan area networks should ultimately aim to rectify. We are up against companies with all of their resources, NDAs, 'proprietary standards', hype, and consumer attention." -- AaronGrogan (but added by AdamShand)
- "One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I'll never know." -- Groucho Marx
For more thoughts you might like to see OurCharter page which was the prequel to this one.
Here is the Association for Community Networks (http://www.acfn.org/) definition of Community Networking:
- Our AFCN "Evaluation of Community Networking" Task Force has created the following "working description": Community Networking (CN) projects bring local people together to discuss their community's issues and opportunities, learn about Internet technology, and decide upon and create services to address these community needs and opportunities. CN is comprised of a wide variety of groups that make up a community (eg., libraries, Universities, K-12 schools, local government, businesses, media, individuals), with special focus on including those who are traditionally left out of community decisionmaking in general, and technology decisionmaking in particular (eg., low-income, minorities, senior citizens). CN projects value collaboration and participation, and are usually noncommercial.
CN projects usually provide training on the use of the Internet, general computer skills, and basic research skills. Most projects provide public access sites in libraries, schools, businesses, and nonprofit organizations, as well as free or low-cost access accounts. Many projects also provide free or low-cost Web design & development for nonprofit organizations, and provide a matchmaking service between nonprofits' technical needs, and CN volunteers' technical abilities. An "online presence" is usually created by the CN project, that is a reflection of its particular community. This "presence" is nowadays usually on the World Wide Web, and typically provides: "official" and not-official community information; news and events; community members' poetry, stories, commentary; some kind of discussion capabilities (eg., discussion groups, chat).