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This report explores the history of alternative communication technologies and networks ("alternets"). It focuses on three historic formations of alternets: 1) the community telephone networks of the late 19th and early 20th century, 2) the Free Radio movement of the 1960's and 1970's, and 3) the first generation of community networks providing Internet access in the 1990's. For each of these movements, the deliverable offers case studies of specific alternets in various countries, mostly in Europe but also in North America. For each of them, we focus on key issues of the netCommons project such as the governance of networks, their long-term sustainability and technological aspects, as well as the political and legal hurdles they faced. The report concludes by drawing parallels and lessons that may be relevant to guide the actions of today's community networks.

This report explores the history of alternative communication technologies and networks ("alternets"). It focuses on three historic formations of alternets: 1) the community telephone networks of the late 19th and early 20th century, 2) the Free Radio movement of the 1960's and 1970's, and 3) the first generation of community networks providing Internet access in the 1990's. For each of these movements, the deliverable offers case studies of specific alternets in various countries, mostly in Europe but also in North America. For each of them, we focus on key issues of the netCommons project such as the governance of networks, their long-term sustainability and technological aspects, as well as the political and legal hurdles they faced. The report concludes by drawing parallels and lessons that may be relevant to guide the actions of today's community networks.

International audience ; This article explores the legal, economic and governance challenges to the sustainability of contemporary alternative Community Networks by drawing lessons and parallels from eight historical precedents. Building on academic literature related to alternative and community media, the article lays out an encompassing definition of alternative networks (or 'alternets') and develops a multidisciplinary approach to comparative history. After briefly presenting eight case studies (three independent telephone networks of the late nineteenth century; three Free Radios of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s; two Community Networks providing Internet access in the 1990s), the article then draws from these case studies to identify key recurring challenges that can inform present-day initiatives, namely, the articu-lation of local community with global connectivity, the development of political advocacy capacities aimed at influencing the law and technology, the creation of appropriate resources aimed at resisting co-optation, and the need to build collective cohesion and mechanisms to handle disagreements. ; Cet article se propose d'analyser les obstacles économiques, juridiques et organisationnels qui compromettent la soutenabilité des réseaux de communication alternatifs aujourd'hui. S'appuyant sur la littérature académique liée aux médias alternatifs et communautaires, l'article présente une définition des réseaux alternatifs et développe une approche originale et multidisciplinaire fondée sur l'histoire comparée. Après avoir brièvement présenté huit études de cas (réseaux téléphoniques locaux de la fin du 19e siècle, radios libres des années 1960 et 1970, fournisseurs d'accès à Internet associatifs dans les années 1990), l'article tire plusieurs enseignements de ces précédents historiques et identifie les principaux défis auxquels font face les initiatives contemporaines, à savoir : l'articulation d'une communauté locale et d'une connectivité mondiale, le développement de capacités de plaidoyer visant à ...

International audience ; This article explores the legal, economic and governance challenges to the sustainability of contemporary alternative Community Networks by drawing lessons and parallels from eight historical precedents. Building on academic literature related to alternative and community media, the article lays out an encompassing definition of alternative networks (or 'alternets') and develops a multidisciplinary approach to comparative history. After briefly presenting eight case studies (three independent telephone networks of the late nineteenth century; three Free Radios of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s; two Community Networks providing Internet access in the 1990s), the article then draws from these case studies to identify key recurring challenges that can inform present-day initiatives, namely, the articu-lation of local community with global connectivity, the development of political advocacy capacities aimed at influencing the law and technology, the creation of appropriate resources aimed at resisting co-optation, and the need to build collective cohesion and mechanisms to handle disagreements. ; Cet article se propose d'analyser les obstacles économiques, juridiques et organisationnels qui compromettent la soutenabilité des réseaux de communication alternatifs aujourd'hui. S'appuyant sur la littérature académique liée aux médias alternatifs et communautaires, l'article présente une définition des réseaux alternatifs et développe une approche originale et multidisciplinaire fondée sur l'histoire comparée. Après avoir brièvement présenté huit études de cas (réseaux téléphoniques locaux de la fin du 19e siècle, radios libres des années 1960 et 1970, fournisseurs d'accès à Internet associatifs dans les années 1990), l'article tire plusieurs enseignements de ces précédents historiques et identifie les principaux défis auxquels font face les initiatives contemporaines, à savoir : l'articulation d'une communauté locale et d'une connectivité mondiale, le développement de capacités de plaidoyer visant à influencer le droit et la technologie, la création de ressources appropriées visant à résister à la cooptation, et la nécessité de construire une gouvernance collective ainsi que des mécanismes de gestion des conflits.

This article is a systematic exercise of an important organizational experience of Medellín created by a group of friends embarked on the task of building an alternative media corporation since 2004 (Periferia), whose first step was the establishment of a newspaper with national distribution, but whose goal was to be the raid on the various media and com-munication processes that can actually develop a communication process articulated alternative to social transformation, economic and political demands of Colombian society.

Current technology provides new challenges to improve skills on people with special necessities. In fact, persons with com-munications needs can take advantage of new devices and mobile applications to interact and communicate easily and in the most straightforward way. Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems are oriented to users who cannot use natural language due to temporary or permanent impairments, providing an alternative to natural language for com-munication. In this paper, we present design guidelines for easy communication application (ECO), an AAC tool designed with a user-centered design approach to make functional communication easier for individuals with complex communication needs. ECO tool has two well-defined modules: the Communication User and the Communication Manager. The former is thought as an AAC tool, while the Communication Manager module provides a way to edit the content and fit the dynamics of use and application design to the user's interests. In addition, we present an evaluation of the ECO tool from two different perspectives. On the one hand, we have achieved a heuristic-based expert evaluation in order to analyze the functionality corresponding to the Communication Manager module of the tool, in order to check main accessibility requirements and improve functionality accordingly. On the other hand, we have evaluated both the communication manager and communica-tion user modules in a real context, carrying out a qualitative evaluation with final users and their therapists to check whether the tool is useful in concrete daily scenarios. Results corroborate research questions, demonstrating that ECO meets the most important accessibility requirements and it is highly valued by experts and end-users. ; This work was partially supported by the Span-ish Government (MASSIVE project RTI2018-095255-B-I00 and TELCO4IOT project PGC2018-099945-B-I00), the Madrid Research Council (FORTE-CM project P2018/TCS-4314), the Spanish Min-istry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (IDiLyCo project TIN2015-66655-R and CANTOR project PID2019-108927RB-I00), and by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (DeepEMR project TIN2017-87548-C2-1-R). We also want to thank the experts, therapists and final users who participated in the evaluation. ; Peer Reviewed ; Preprint

This thesis examines theatre projects in terms of the emphasis given either to the performance presented to an audience (product) or the developmental stages that lead up to it (process). These categories are evaluated based on the philosophy of Paulo Freire, whose pedagogy promotes critical consciousness fostered in individuals as a means towards improving human life. This thesis argues that mainstream communication systems typically emphasise product over process, yet in so doing, lose important qualities of popular access, grassroots involvement and what Freire calls "dialogue"--the cooperative effort between persons, based in mutual respect and love, to understand the world. Examples of theatre projects illustrate how process-centred communication may have social, political and/or therapeutic ends. A case study of a theatre project (a collectively-written play called "Frustrated Artists", performed in March, 1995) based on process-centred ideals gives a subjective vision of this sort of project. The examination concludes that an emphasis on process, though not necessarily empowering in itself, may be useful in constructing communications systems which value human needs over money and form. Given this, the thesis characterises process-centred media as a potentially important alternative communication force within an environment which may unheedingly crunch certain human needs such as involvement and self-worth. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 34-06, page: 2109. Adviser: Marlene Cuthbert. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1996.