January News Today is:

You too can be a venture capitalist!

Have you ever watched Bill Gates or Warren Buffet give away millions to benefit other people and said to yourself, "I wish I had the money to impact the world like them." Well you do. Through Microlending.

Kiva.org was the first person-to-person micro-lending Website that enabled an individual to lend money to a micro-entrepreneur in the developing world. This came to be known as "the merger between Microfinance and Web 2.0" due to its ability to create a transparent, connective and affordable option for anyone on the Internet to lend directly to the working poor. Inspired by Mohammad Yunus and Grameen Bank, microcredit was taken online. http://www.kiva.org

MicroPlace.com, a wholly-owned subsidiary of eBay, was launched on October 2007. This website also caters to the micro-borrower with a little difference from Kiva.org. The big difference between MicroPlace and Kiva...is that loans will be securitized (and therefore potentially trade-able), and lenders will earn interest. Unlike Kiva, lenders on MicroPlace invest in microcredit by purchasing securities. Funds generated by these sales are then invested in microcredit institutions around the world. MFIs, in turn, solicit clients, make loans and collect payments - they do their normal day-to-day business. Once client payments are in, the institutional investors receive their loan (plus interest) who can then pay back their investors - people who purchased those original securities. It's not as simple a model as Kiva's, but its differences are very important. MicroPlace.com

Kiva is a non-profit as it's very difficult to become a SEC-registered broker/dealer. MicroPlace, on the other hand, had the institutional and financial backing of eBay, allowing it to go through the complex regulatory application process and to put up the necessary money for the SEC to sign off. --Wikipedia

For more information about Microlending http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/uganda601/index.html

Happy Lending!

Timothy J. Kilkenny
Founder & CEO
tim@fullnet.net

Holding Politicians Accountable!

Fact Check is the site for anyone who's every seen a campaign ad, heard a stump speech, read a bit of literature or interview, and thought "that can't be true . . . can it?"

The team at The Annenberg Political Fact Check does the verifying for you, translating political speak into plain old English and sorting out truths from half-truths and full-out lies. Check them out at www.factcheck.org.

Sign up for e-mail alerts for daily updates on how they're keeping the politicos on their toes.

Happy Surfing From Your Friends at FullNet!

Roger Baresel
President

We're Listening...

'08 promises to be great! Each New Year brings resolutions and bright new ideas for the coming months. But as we look for ways to improve it seems obvious to those of us here at FullNet that the reason we are here is you. So what could we do for you to make 2008 a truly great year?

If you Google "FullNet" you'll find our home page and various links about us that you probably have already seen or are familiar with. That is fine when telling the world who we are - but what about the most important folks? You ... our current customer!

We have a pilot web page just for our customers. Take a bit and go to the new "Customer Portal" at www.fullnet.net/home and let us know what you think. It is a .one stop shopping. approach where you can check your e-mail, find search engines, see the local weather, shop on line and more. There is a link on top to tell us what you think or tell us what you want to see included or excluded.

Some of you have suggested changes to our web based e-mail access. Well, we tried a test web mail program during the last year and want to launch a new option for you this coming year. Please go to www.webmailpilot.fullnet.net and check e-mail for many of our FullNet Family domains.

To borrow a signature line from Kelsey Grammar's character in the 1993 series 'Frasier', "Hello, Oklahoma ... we're listening." We have been fortunate enough to serve you for over a decade now, and your opinion really does matter. We want to hear from you.

It is our hope to be flooded with e-mails, comments and suggestions. So to begin 2008 we are asking you to tell us what you want from us. This is not an invitation to fill in a set of pre-selected options ... but rather a reminder that we are here for you 24 hours a day, seven days a week and asking for your unedited input.

We're Listening!

John A. Secondi
FullNet Customer Service Manager
1-877-385-5832
support@fullnet.net