The UTOPIA Foundation
now Internet based
by The Advocate
After a brief vacation, we have refreshed and regrouped. After much consideration we are reducing our local and regional activities in favor of a purely Internet based service. We are also offering a distinct members only area for those able to participate at a level beyond the average citizen. Membership requires a nominal monthly donation to allow us to survive but there are awesome benefits.
Members are allowed to freely participate in our private listserv, private newsgroup, private IRC and ICQ chat system, e-mail accounts, organizational and individual Home pages, as well many other services that simply cannot be listed here. We have a professional webmaster and can offer ftp, http, telnet, FrontPage 97/98 access.
Several months ago we acquired our own private server -- Dual Pentium 200 with 128 meg of ram and more than 10 gig of HD space (more to come RAID-5) - that is collocated at a local ISP and is ethernet-connected to a T3 connected directly to the backbone and remote controlled via ISDN. This gives us more capabilities than any other Fathers Rights organization on the net, more than MOST companies. It also allows us to totally control security on the server.
We have expanded our scope to assimilate 74 US and Australian States, Canadian provinces, as well as US and Australian territories. This includes the US Armed Forces stationed abroad. We currently have members or affiliates in 34 states and 4 countries and are expanding as needed to be all inclusive.
We have created what we call the MENTOR program. This is an admission that while we may be experts in our jurisdiction, we need others of a like mind in other jurisdictions to join us in educating fathers and men in their legal relationships. This is not a cult of personality, rather it is the grass roots of a social movement with a single enemy with many faces.
Mentors have very few requirements attached to their limited responsibility and great freedoms to do as they see fit. No two jurisdictions are alike, so too no Mentors will not be required to be alike. All we ask is that our Mentors message be primarily legal in orientation and positive, non denominational/non religious/non political, and inclusive of all men -- regardless of race, creed, sexual proclivity or religious orientation.
Moral zealots and anarchists are not encouraged to apply. After 2 years of observing the Fathers Rights movement on the internet, we have crossed paths with many whom we feel simply do not get what this is about. We need to look to the future and not the past in this movement. This is a contract of adhesion and is non negotiable. We have determined that this is the only way that any of these Fathers and Men's groups can even remotely work together. We will facilitate and coordinate not dominate. We will command respect, not demand respect.
We have also created a unique Attorneys Referral service for those practitioners in each jurisdiction who are sympathetic and qualified to be pro father attorneys. This service is free to members and includes a direct feed back loop for each attorney or firm to allow for word of mouth advertising. We are encouraging all attorneys to donate at least 10 hours a month in our chat rooms or answering e-mail pro bono.
We know that this is a unique service. Name one other Fathers Rights organization that can mention free, internet, and lawyer in the same sentence. Our long term plans are to make the attorneys pay for the privilege to our members, thus making the entire site free to the public in all of it's glory.
There are far too many more things that we are currently offering and will offer in the future but suffice to say, we have made a substantial investment and we are here for the duration. Not is the time and we believe we have created the place for all men and fathers to join in the community of men.
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