www.refreshcleveland.org

Cleveland has become one of the major booming cities in the United States. In fact, Cleveland has chosen to create Cleveland Free-Net which provides internet in one of the most convenient and accessible ways. Developed at CWRU, Free-Net is an exciting project for free internet and public computing throughout the city. Developed in 1986 as a research project from the Department of Family Medicine at Case Western Reserve University-s School of Medicine, the amount of users has increased exponentially as the year-s progress.
According to Cleveland Free-Net users in 1994 averaged out to over 6 million people and that was almost 20 years ago. As internet becomes a part of everyday life for Americans, the amount of users continues to increase yearly. As CWRU invested over 300,000 in revenue and financial aid, it is important to remember the initial cost to these government programs.
Currently Cleveland Free-Net charges a fee for users on the server, the goal however is to make Free-Net a truly free experience that all residents can take advantage of. Commercial services and other competition is not a concern for Free-Net as it encourages healthy markets. As such, it will continue to provide a local option for residents.