wild west end internet co-op
    about wwe - accounts - projections - journal - netstat


wwe co-op... a practical demonstration of elephant economics

    services & technical
    membership & management
    jobs & special arrangements
    monthly & yearly business
    elephant economics
    isp contract
    termination
    copyright


wwe co-op members
   $10-15 per month (minus yearly re-fund, deposit required)

approved guest users
   $10 per week or $20 per month (no deposit, no re-fund)



wwe co-op services & technical

  wwe users share one dsl internet connection (256kbps) and a wifi network
operating continuously 24 hours 365 days per year.  our highest values
are sustained reliability, privacy, convenience, modest speed and low cost.

  the hours of 5am to 11pm are reserved for normal low-bandwidth use, which
should be sufficient for reliable everyday email, research, shopping, etc.
the hours of 11pm to 5am are available for high-bandwidth use, downloading,
videos, etc.  with agreement of all members, each member may reserve up to
2 specific hours of the day for their own high-bandwidth use.  for example,
members operating on solar power may wish to reserve daylight hours.
  
  wifi access uses the highest encryption levels and other security methods.
only co-op members, and approved non-members & consultants, may have access to
the service.  any or all co-op members may have full administrative access to
the equipment, with approval by all co-op members.  online network status
is available to all wwe network users.



wwe co-op membership & management

  "approval by all co-op members" or "approved" means unanimous / full consensus
agreement among all -active- co-op members on each decision.  prospective and
inactive members are not counted in decisions.

  a low-bandwidth household/family may be considered a single subscriber-member
(with one "vote" and one share of assets), with approval by all co-op members.

  each new user or prospective member must be approved by all co-op members to
use the service, and prospective members must pay an equal share of the deposit.
a prospective member may become a co-op member after one year, with approval
by all co-op members.

  co-op membership is permanent, however a member who owes money for more than
one month of service, or who has not used the service for one year, will be
considered an inactive member, and will not be counted in co-op decisions.
active membership will be re-established by bringing one's account up to-date
and resuming use of the service.

  a non-founding co-op membership may be revoked by full consensus of no less
than 5 active members, minus one.  founding memberships may not be revoked.

  a member may resign completely at any time, thereby giving up his/her share
of the equipment and any future re-funds.  a former member who wishes to
re-join, with approval by all co-op members, will be considered an inactive
member, and must continue with his/her original account, bringing it up
to-date if necessary.



wwe co-op jobs & special arrangements

founding members:  dale & karen, kara & mark, bob, neal, chris

  neal is our contractor with the isp.  he is providing an existing phone line
for the dsl, saving us about $25/month.  in exchange, neal is a co-op member
with a per-month cost of $zero.  he will provide an equal share of the deposit.

  chris will set up everything and loan approx $100 worth of equipment in lieu
of his share of the deposit.  the co-op will buy this equipment after one year.
he will pay the same per-month rates as other co-op members.

  the co-op treasury will be co-managed by at least 2 co-op members (so far,
neal & dale), including the co-signers for the co-op bank account, with
approval by all co-op members.  chris will audit & provide reports here.



wwe co-op monthly & yearly business

  books are always open to all co-op members.  please see the online
current accounts, projected accounts, and transaction journal.

  to pay the isp's monthly internet bill, at the beginning of each month
we collect $10-15 from each co-op member who will be using the service
during that month.  the co-op re-imburses our contractor neal each month
for the actual costs of internet service & electricity for our equipment.

  any member who is not paid up by the end of the month will be blocked from
further access to the service, and considered an inactive member, until his/her
account is up to-date.  payment for any number of months in advance is welcome.

  miscellaneous income from approved short-term & guest users will be used to
reduce costs for members.  each month, each member's actual per-month cost is
recalculated depending on total months of use and actual costs.
(see elephant economics, below)

  excess accumulated income will be re-funded at the end of each fiscal year.
per-month billing rates may be adjusted to provide stability and minimize cash
flow in the billing & re-fund process, with approval by all co-op members.

  if necessary, the deposit / re-fund may be used to repair or upgrade
equipment at any time, with approval by all co-op members.  for example,
the purchase of a second/spare wifi transmitter will be proposed.



a practical demonstration of elephant economics


here's a table showing shares of $30/month estimated service cost:

  members   3 months   6 months   9 months   12 months   use per year

     1       $ 120         60         40          30     per month share
     2          60         30         20          15
     3          40         20         13.33       10
     4          30         15         10           7.50
     5          24         12          8           6
     6          20         10          6.67        5


  each month, actual costs of the co-op (forever) are re-calculated and
re-distributed over all member-months of use (forever).  so each member's
monthly rate applies to -all- months of use (forever) to-date.

here's an example of year-end projections, including all costs:

          projected     1 year    2 years   3 years   4 years

            members        4.0       4.0       4.0       4.0    avg
             months         12        24        36        48    service
      member-months         48        96       144       192    of use

       service cost    $ 30.00     30.00     30.00     30.00    per month
     equipment cost      17.92      7.08      4.72      3.54    per month avg

  full-year members    $ 11.20      8.52      7.90      7.59    per month
  half-year members      16.81     12.78     11.85     11.39    per month
       [non-members      22.41     17.04     15.80     15.19    for reference]


  beginning monthly rates will be high due to startup & equipment costs,
and will drop quickly during the first few months.  (also, we're starting
with one half-member less than projected.  please do not be alarmed! :)

  all co-op members share ownership of the equipment in proportion to
each member's use during the entire time of the co-op's existence.



isp contract

  when we complete our two-year contract with the isp, a $95 installation fee
plus $120 equipment cost will be waived by the isp.  however, in case of early
contract termination, the contractor (neal) will be personally liable for $215,
so we need a share of this in a startup deposit from each co-op member (about
$50 each).  each member's share of this deposit will be credited to his/her
account and kept in the co-op bank account.

  after one year the isp will waive the $95 installation fee, and after the
second year the $120 equipment cost, which then become available for equipment
repair & upgrades and member re-funds.  also see the 2-year projection.



wwe co-op termination

  the wwe co-op may be disbanded, with approval by all co-op members.
in this case, the following steps will be taken:

  1  the equipment will auctioned at a fair price to co-op members.

  2  any remaining equipment will be auctioned to the public.

  3  any debt to the internet service provider (isp) will be paid.

  4  the year's re-funds will be distributed to co-op members according
to the usual end-of-year calculations.

  5  any remaining funds will be distributed among all co-op members
in proportion to each member's months of use during the entire time of
the co-op's existence.