Free-Net

A free-net is a computer system which provides public access to a large number of resources. Once registered, users can typically access email, Usenet newsgroups, chat rooms (typically IRC), telnet, and often other services. Unlike most modern ISPs, Free-nets provide direct terminal-based dialup instead of PPP. The increased availability/affordability of PPP dialup connections, and more recently cable and DSL has largely obsoleted the free-net community, and so a number of the free-nets, including the original Cleveland Freenet, have shut down.

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An example of an existing Free-net is the Los Angeles Free-Net.