Cyber*Forat

Biggest problems:

• how to reach people with strong prejuidice towards technology
• how to involve people who have no knowledge yet
• cyber*forat is a very small group (3 people) and they are hesitating about becoming bigger. so they would like to hear about experiences
• how to avoid a consumer - work relation between the collective and the world for a longer period: people get tired of it

Subnet

Internet workplace inside a squat in Zurich. Started out with NIC (Nerd Integration Center) to integrate technology/nerds into social life. It started in the EGO squat, now it's in another squat.

• problem: how to divide work between volunteers. often a few people spend a lot of time doing all kinds of stuff. not really money problems, wireless connection for free, more than enough machines.
• the place is often not used because of lack of free time
• problem with stuff disappearing because it's open in a squat
• sometimes people join who are maybe technically good but socially not very strong. they want to join, but it does not always work
• communication with visitors: they often dont talk to the people of the collective

BloukBlouk

BloukBlouk is a collecive from Lyon. Almost weekly workshops about desktop applications etc. Trying to get people to use free software. There is a space in a squat, it is not so visible in the street. Open for people in the squat, basically. About 5-6 people. BloukBlouk is also involved with setting up a french network of non-commercial internet workspaces.

• not so good equipment
• how to share knowledge with people: educating people is not so easy.

Print

Print stands for: "reclaiming internet and technology". It was created around the time of the first PNP congress. It came out of the local anarchist/squat scene. The group is about 10 people, informal but a quite strong group. It is very successfull within the squat scene: almost all squatters are using Linux/mutt/open source. They went from a more internal project towards a open project, mostly by inviting people in by free internet. Activity:

• providing free internet access
• working on free software
• working on self-empowerment en autonomy
• trying to get people to be self-empowered, instead of making a technician-user relationship.
• Funding: rely on autonomous donations, reality hacking Open space is open once a week, but also workshops

Problems:

• integrating geeks & squatters
• internal crisis because the motivation is low
• getting knowledge spreaded is still a very problematic thing
• toys for boys? is it only a tool we can share within our own group

Cyberpipe

Different model of organisation: there is public internet access (LTP terminals). Most people just use email and don't connect with the people from Cyberpipe. Cyberpipe sees it as an obligation (they get free housing) to run this public access. They even pay a little bit for the people to run this public access.

Recently started with intensive education programs, both low-level and high-level courses. So much was organised that they flooded the mailinglists of groups with announcements and invitations. Because someone is taking care of the place, there is not so much problems dividing tasks like cleaning up. Cyberpipe also does a lot of translations in Slovenian. Cyberpipe exists of 5-10 people (core) and about 10 that do shifts. Money: cyberpipe is funded as a media lab. The mobile phone company gives them money, they even forgot about it for a long time. But cyberpipe tries not to rely too much on these resources. So that money goes mostly to hardware and events, not regular costs.

Problems:

• Getting NGO's to use Linux doesn't really work yet.
• Not so much squatting culture in Ljubljana.
• lack of people with non-geeky skills: graphics, audio, video, stuff...
• they have a lot of people => internal communication problem
• also, women integration in technology is a difficult problem

Monteparadiso hacklab

Free internet access is still important, because there is not so much access yet. Monteparadiso had isdn, but is now running via a wireless link to the university.

Monteparadiso tries to spread Linux-use within the Roj building, but it is very hard. People are not techo-fobic, but more instability-fobic. Pula is a small city, a lot of people go away from it, because there is not much work. Young people study outside Pula and never return. The only people in town that work regularly with computers are working on the shipyard. But they are not so politically active. Now a younger group without any knowledge is joining, but their level starts with learning how to use email. Because these people started with Linux, they are not biased with Microsoft software.

Monteparadiso is three active people plus five new ones. It is partly financed by a bar and concerts (they also run a punk bar). They got machines donated from the Sorros foundation. Monteparadiso is open daily from 7-12 at night, almost every day. Trying to be open more during the day.

ASCII

ASCII has a loose group of about 10-15 people, running much on affinity groups. Many people come from different countries, which also means that people are sometimes involved for a shorter period (about a year). The "core group" exists for five years.

Problems:

• gender issues: not so many are involved in ascii
• punk culture and tech culture: do we want to place ourselves within this subculture or reach beyond it, and how.

Reload

Milan, evicted twice from squat, now in a social center. Running servers, the movement is getting (too?) dependent in a way. Il Postiljo is now a internet cafe with open access, with a hostel, with a good group of people to run both. Reload integrates with the Chainworkers collective and many other political actions.

Kernel Panic

Kernel Panic started 4 years ago as a hackmeeting, then it became a hacklab in Barcelona. The group is a bit divided between political and technical people. Now "in between spaces".

• how to finance your collective