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+# Fripost – The Free Email Association
+
+Technology has never been neutral. The ownership structure of technology
+companies and their endeavour for profit ensures that usage of their services
+for work and communication will never be free.
+
+At the same time, only a fraction of the everyday Internet users have knowledge
+and resources enough to create free alternatives on their own. The question is
+also: What can reasonably be expected from an average user in terms of
+engagement in their privacy and freedom?
+
+For any one individual, the goal of user freedom may be unattainable. Together,
+we can move mountains.
+
+We are proud to present the Association for Free Email, Fripost. Fripost has
+since late 2010 delivered a free and reliable email service, with a distributed
+network of servers.
+
+[[!toc levels=2]]
+
+## Join Now
+
+We are happy do declare that the membership fee has been decreased. Since the
+yearly meeting in Mars 2012 we lowered the entrance fee from 300 to 200
+SEK. Fripost consists of all members together, and the only way to strengthen
+our strives is to become more. A lowered fee has been one of the wishes of
+Fripost's members, and a lowered fee also lowers the threshold for to free your
+mailing.
+
+You become a member by sending 200 SEK to the association
+ * Through bank payment,
+ * PayPal, or
+ * By cash payment at one of the association's meetings. 
+
+200 SEK – A small price for freedom
+
+Paying the membership fee corresponds to the smallest effort members commit to
+in the association, but we expect members to take larger part in the work of
+Fripost. That means, for example, to sometime show up at the association's
+activities, or take part in the
+[[mailing lists|https://lists.fripost.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo]]
+or at [[Fripost's wiki|https://wiki.fripost.org]].
+
+Donations are also appreciated. Fripost suggests that one can join and at
+the same time contribute with 300 SEK. To do so, pay 500 SEK to one of the bank accounts
+or use the special PayPal button.
+
+ * Plusgiro – 477884-1
+ * Bankgiro – 311-5060
+
+It is also possible to use cash payment in contact with someone in the
+association.
+
+Fripost cares about its members integrity, and encourages vigilance against
+giving out personal information. In that spirit Fripost offers anonymous
+memberships, for which the only information needed is
+
+ * The desired email address (e.g. your.name@fripost.org).
+
+However, in order to make it possible for Fripost to reach to you with important
+information, you may want to provide:
+
+ * Full name
+ * Current email address (recommended)
+ * Phone number
+ * Physical address
+ * Whether you want to join the member mailing list
+
+The member mailing list is the main channel for information within the
+association. Members are not added by default, so you have to explicitly state
+that you what to be added to the list.
+
+More details (in Swedish) are found at the
+[[membership page|medlemskap]]
+
+## The deal
+
+A membership means:
+
+- One email address, one inbox, and the possibility of one extra alias at fripost.org
+- The possibility to associate one domain of your own to fripost.org
+- Unlimited number of aliases on the associated domain.
+
+## Contact
+
+To contact us, send an email to
+[[info@fripost.org|mailto:info@firpost.org]].
+
+## Mailing lists
+
+Internally, we use the mailing lists to communicate. If you are a
+member but not yet on the list, contact us so we can add you.
+
+The members list is open for all members and participation is strictly
+voluntary.
+  
+## IRC
+
+If you use [[IRC|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Relay_Chat]],
+you may want to join
+[[#fripost|https://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=#fripost]] at
+[[freenode.net|http://www.freenode.net/]].
+
+# Fripost – Free Mailing
+
+Free your mailing!
+
+The Internet is the most important communication medium in the majority of the
+industrialised world. For those who take user freedom seriously it is saddening
+to see how the Internet has changed from being a highly distributed network to
+the increasingly privatised web we encounter today. A few strong parties control
+major segments of important infrastructure that millions of users depend on
+every day.
+
+## Software as a Service
+
+A concept introduced in the spirit of centralisation is Software as a Service
+(SaaS). SaaS means that users perform their computer work on or through a
+network server on the Internet or a local network. Examples of SaaS are Amazon
+Cloud and Google Docs. One of the main problems with SaaS is that the users has
+no control over their data.
+
+## Privacy and Surveillance
+
+With large clientele comes a lot of power. Large transnational operators, such
+as Google, are profiting from efficient use of privacy invading
+schemes. Together with e.g. Google's email service one also gets things that was
+probably not asked for: advertisement, semantic analysis of email contents, and
+spying. One part of Google's marketing strategy is to sell the collected
+information to third party.
+
+## The Free Email Association
+
+Fripost was founded in order to take back a small, but important, part of our
+Internet life, namely the email communication infrastructure. We gather around
+several servers that receive and stores the members' email. The reliability of
+the service is of course of great importance.
+
+Apart from reliability, also integrity preserving, democratic participation and
+transparency are the watchwords of Fripost. The association will never be
+interested in the content of its members' emails or other dealings. The
+association never supplies information regarding members activities to third
+party. Fripost keeps logs, and that is a part of all responsible service. But
+these logs are only for reliable maintenance, and will never be used for other
+purposes.
+
+All work within the association is voluntary. The association is administrated
+by a democratically elected board, and the server administrators are chosen on
+democratic grounds.
+
+## What's the Difference?
+
+With mail services on today's market, users have no power over their mailing,
+and must follow suit the provider's all whims. In that sense, those services can
+never be regarded as free, as in freedom. However, the email service provided
+through Fripost is free! This because of the co-ownership of the association's
+means and the democratic structure of non-profit organisations. No private
+for-profit corporation can offer that, at whatever price.
+
+Through collective organisation, Fripost render it possible for individuals to
+bring yet another part of their computer usage under their own control.
+
+User freedom is possible!
+
+## Participate
+
+The membership fee, 200 SEK, is a small price for freedom. 
+
+Fripost is based on voluntary work. There are always things to do for those who
+want to get involved. As said before, paying the membership fee corresponds to
+the smallest effort members take in the association, but we expect members to
+take larger part in the work of Fripost: sometime show up at the association's
+activities, or be active on the association's [[wiki|https://wiki.fripost.org]],
+[[email lists|https://lists.fripost.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo]], and
+chat channel [[#fripost|https://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=#fripost]] on
+[[freenode|http://www.freenode.net/]].
+
+Many of Fripost's members also participate by just configuring their email
+clients and free their mailing.
+
+Members are as active in the association as they like, and all members have the same
+possibilities to take part in the association's democratic process. 
+
+## More Information
+
+Fripost's official language is Swedish. however, many members, also in
+the administrators team, are non Swedish speakers. Therefore by-laws
+and similar documents are written in Swedish, but documentation and
+such is all in English. Documentation is in English also because of
+that one of the main ideas with Fripost is to encourage others to
+follow Fripost's initiative. Fripost's documentation is a good way to
+get started.
+
+More sources of information
+ * [[Abstract of a talk|https://fscons.org/2010/infrastructure/distributed-email-system.html]],
+   given by Gustav Eek and Stefan Kangas at FSCONS, November 2010
+ * [[Fripost's wiki|https://wiki.fripost.org]] contains ideas,
+   instructions, and minutes
+ * [[The Git repositories|http://git.fripost.org]]
+
+For further questions see [[contact page|kontakt] for how to get in
+contact with Fripost.
+
+Fripost started as a project within Göteborg Fellowship of FSFE, but
+is now an independent association.
+
+A version of this text is available as a
+[[leaflet|http://fripost.org/material/leaflet.pdf]], which you can
+print and use to spread the word.
+