The New Name
As of March 1, 1996, the Vancouver Regional FreeNet Association is now known as The Vancouver Community Network. The online service we run, the Vancouver Regional FreeNet, has become the Vancouver CommunityNet.
Both the new logo (right) and old logo (left) are shown above if you have access to graphics.
When was this decided and by whom?
The decision to change names was approved by our members at our Annual General Meeting in September 1995.
Although the decision was approved in September 1995 we did not change our name officially until March 1996 because we needed time to register the name change with the provincial government, (this alone took months) update our Web pages, prepare stationery, register the new Internet domain name and so on.
Why the name change?
We changed our name for two reasons.
First, the US-based National Public Telecomputing Network (NPTN) has claim to the name "Free-Net" in both Canada and the US. They announced last year that they intended to institute a fairly large annual fee for membership in the NPTN. They also made it clear that membership in the NPTN was required to use the name "Free-Net" legally. We, along with many other community networks in Canada that use the names "Free-Net" or "FreeNet," decided to change names rather than waste time and money contesting this.
Second, we believe the new name better reflects the community nature of our organization and our services!
Does this affect the organization?
No. The name change in no way affects our aims and goals. We will continue to offer free access to community information to everyone in accordance with our mission statement. We'll always be the same FreeNet you've come to know and love!
Will my email be affected?
Yes and no. Our new Internet address is:
vcn.bc.ca
and you should notify everyone you correspond with of your new email address. However, we will maintain the old "freenet.vancouver.bc.ca" address in parallel with the new one for two years from February 1996. Any email sent to the old FreeNet address through to February 1998 will reach you.
We were hoping to be allowed to keep both domain names indefinitely, but according to the current rules laid down by the Canadian Internet domain name registrar we must deregister the old name after a transition period. Sorry. Hopefully two years will be long enough for everyone you know to get your new address.
What is my email address, then?
If your old email address was, say:
then your new address is:
What is the new Web page address?
The new Web page address (URL) for the Vancouver CommunityNet is now:
Be sure to update your bookmarks to the new address! Remember, of course, that since we're maintaining the old address for two years, you'll still be able to reach us at our old URL until 1998.
What happened to the "Regional" FreeNet?
At our 1995 Annual General Meeting our membership voted to remove the word "regional" in order to shorten the name. Rest assured, however, that we will always serve the entire Lower Mainland of British Columbia!
Revised: October 8, 1998