Its with a great amount of reluctance and sadness that after five years of providing high quality, advertisement free hosting to thousands of people around the world, Im announcing the end of freedom2operate.

 

First, the details followed by some background information and farewell thoughts.

 

-       freedom2operate was founded in May 2002 with the goal of providing free web hosting and development opportunities to the Internet community without advertising or costs.

-       Paid hosting accounts with Progressive Networks are in no way, shape or form affected by the closing of freedom2operate, this only applies to free f2o.org accounts.

-       Hosting for f2o.org accounts will end in approximately four (4) weeks, after which time they will no longer be accessible and all data will be deleted from them.

-       During the next four weeks, all users of free f2o.org accounts should transfer their data – including email, web files, and databases -  off our servers to alternative hosting providers.

-       As a courtesy, we will provide forwarding of URLs and email addresses for the immediate future. File a support ticket through our Account Manager with the details of where you would like your site/email forwarded.

-       The closing of freedom2operate is primarily due to costs associated with running the service (approx. $1200.00 US/month), an increasing amount of abuse of free f2o.org accounts, and our inability to commit the personal necessary to providing the high level of service we expect from ourselves.

-       If any organization or individual is interested in taking over freedom2operate and its associated maintenance, please contact us directly about that possibility.

 

I fully understand how unfair many people must think it is that were closing down freedom2operate because of the abuse of a few bad apples. Indeed it is unfair that the malfeasance of a few could cause such a worthy and useful service to end. However, as many of you have no doubt have noticed in the past few months, the actions of those bad apples have caused repeated service outages for free f2o.org accounts.

 

Either due to accounts being abandoned, taken over through vulnerabilities, and used as spam, virus, or phishing sites, or intentional abuse by some of our free account holders, in recent months our datacenter has had to continually shut down service to the free f2o.org servers and assess us fees as a punishment. Combined with the increasing time and costs of running the servers that we provide to the f2o.org community, the financial burden and legal risk have put an overwhelming amount of pressure on our ability to stay in business.

 

In short, running a free hosting service like f2o.org is neither cheap nor easy and after five years I have to come to terms with that.

 

Its been a great ride and I personally and sincerely wish you all the best and will always look back fondly on the memories of the past five years. As always, if you have any questions or comments, please let us know.

 

Next, Id just like to pass along some thoughts on what the last five years has meant to me personally, and some more information about the end of freedom2operate.

 

When freedom2operate was first envisioned, we had no idea how long it would last. There were plenty of questions about the feasibility of what we proposed – something, which at the time was quite unique – and there were always plenty of people telling us how it would never work out and how our failure was constantly imminent.

 

But for five years now, with varying degrees of success, it has worked out. As weve

pointed out in previous years, many peoples lives have been positively impacted through freedom2operate, our own lives included. Over the lifetime of freedom2operate, relationships have been forged, careers have been advanced, lives have been enriched, and good has been done.

 

For that I dont apologize and have no regrets.

 

While some of the goals for freedom2operate were never met, many of our wildest dreams for what it could and how it could impact peoples lives were far exceeded.

 

Its with the knowledge of those accomplishments and the tangible results thereof that we are comfortable with the decision to end our free f2o.org offerings after five years of service to over five thousand people.

 

There are far too many people to mention who had major roles in the success of freedom2operate, but a few people do deserve special recognition and thanks. Among them are Russ & Miriam Jungwirth, Chris Spruck, Mark Nickel, Michele Foster, Rudy Limeback, Matt Warden, Paul Waring, and a number of other people who Im sure I forgot to mention.

 

Personally, life is much different than it was five years ago, as Im sure it is for many of you as well. Marriage, two beautiful children, and the start of a new company have all taken place within the lifetime of freedom2operate, which is quite remarkable if you think about it. Freedom2operate and the especially the people it was comprised of will always hold a place in my heart, and I hope the same holds true for many of you as well.

 

So good luck with whatever the future brings you and yours. Carry the ideals of freedom2operate with you throughout your life. And always remember to believe in the power of people and the potential we all possess.

 

Sincerely,

 

Daniel Cody

Co-founder: freedom2operate

Owner: Progressive Networks