Help Wire Remote Laos Villages

rODbegbie writes "Lee Felsenstein is appealing for donations to help provide Internet access to remote Laos villages. The New York Times considered the idea one of the best in 2002, but they need to raise $25,000 to get this in place before monsoon season. Donations can be made using Paypal (mention that it's for "Remote IT")."

Comments

I'm sure AOL...

[craenor]

Would be more then happy to send them a bunch of CD's if that helps.

Donations!!! LOL!!!

[mustangdavis]

"... appealing for donations to help provide Internet access to remote Laos villages ..."

I can't even afford my wired connection, let alone anone else's wireless conection!

Sorry to be stingey, but I need to read /. from home too :)

CommentAnticipator:

[mumblestheclown]

CommentAnticipator says:

• Will the computers run open source software?
• Aren't there more valuable projects that we could spend money on?
• Jokes about the guy pedalling running out of power just as half the pr0n picture is downloaded.
• In soviet russia, computer bicycles you
• Comments about pop-up ads, spam, and the fact that internet access is no guarantee of anything.
• A few semi-related comments about land mines.

Re:CommentAnticipator:

[Anonymous Coward]

In Soviet Russia, comments anticipate you!

(...thank God I remembered to post AC)

Urban legend

[squiggleslash]

This is actually an urban legend. Well, it started off as a real appeal but...

From snopes.com (www.snopes.com/spoons/felsenstein.html):

Legend

A village in Laos needs funds to connect itself to the Internet

Status:Not any more

Example (collected from the Internet, 2001):

Pass on to everyone you know: Little Lee Felsenstein wants to collect as many Paypal contributions as he can so he can give his mud hut in Laos an Internet connection before he dies. All he needs is $25,000. Please send him a Paypal and pass this message on to your friends!

Summary

In 1982, Lee Felsenstein, who lives in Laos, a small village outside of Berkley, California, started a project that involved hooking up his ramshackle shack to the, then, ArpaNet connection at the University of California, Berkley. Unfortunately, at the time all communications were regulated by the FCC and owned by AT&T, and so he was forced to dig up the wires he had buried and ask AT&T to lay the cables instead. They demanded $25,000 for the task, which Lee, aged 11, was unable to raise.

An appeal was started, and when Paypal was founded in 1997, the appeal switched over to donations by email. The full $25,000 was raised in 1998, and Pacific Bell, who now owned the telecommunications system in California, agreed to install the line, now a fiber optic link, for a little less than the original price, $759. They began work in December of 1998, and the line was officially declared operational in October 2000, in time for Felsenstein to be able to watch the flawed 2000 Presidential election using a video over IP link.

The rest of the money donated was sent on to the RIAA, a group of publishers dedicated to helping independent artists have their works distributed across the world.

Felsenstein now lives in Detroit, Michigan, where he runs a profitable Internet advertising concern.

References

The Isaac Asimov Book of Facts (Asimov, 1992)
The History of the Felsenstein Standard Company (Tarbell, 1908)

So, you see, it's an urban legend.

and ...

[Greedo]

... I now know where to send some of the $30 MILLION DOLLARS that my dear friend Mr. Mboto of Nigeria will be wiring to my account very shortly.