registration for web multicasting, domain names, etc.), support in dealing with official structures, finding appropri-
ate funding for projects, visa requirements, official letters of support, both in English and the local language, offi-
cial invitations, official endorsements, access to surveys and information sources about activities in the field of cul-
ture and digital media.

One practical way in which actual funding might work is that the Interfund creates its own capital to give micro-
funding to individual projects. The organiser can then claim that the project in question is supported financially by
the Interfund (complete with a letter of acceptance by the "board" of the fund). Funding may be as little as US$ 10,-
for a project, but can help to create interest from official institutions and structures. Moreover the actual amount of
funding by the Interfund need not be specified in all cases. The possibilities for acquiring donations (not sponsor-
ship) to extend the financial basis of the Interfund will be an area of attention. Important is that there should always
be a variety of models which should be investigated to support individual projects, based on the local situation in
which the project operates or is set up.

SOME GENERAL GOALS HAVE BEEN PROPOSED FOR THE INTERFUND:

- to enhance small independent cultural and new media initiatives,

- Create a pool of shared resources,

- promote co-operation between small organisations in this field,
offer support (practical, financial, legal and moral) to find means to produce art and culture projects in the field
of new media,

- to educate policy and decision makers about the importance of supporting independent media culture.

The Interfund can also serve as a forum for the critique of (the inefficiency of) large institutions, particularly in the
field of new media and culture, and large and overfunded ICT development programs. Though the Interfund will not
have a fixed physical location, it should become a real virtual organisation (it is not a simulation). For this purpose
a letterhead and design for the Interfund will be developed, as well as a web-site, e-mail address, a logo. nd...
(a local Latvian speciality) an official Interfund stamp. All graphical elements will be made down-loadable from the
Interfund site for its members (PDF files). The Interfund will be run as a strictly virtual office (a decentralised cen-
tre).

Possible legal forms and their implications for establishing the Interfund as an international state-less entity are
currently investigated. Should it become a registered society, a charity, a foundation, or yet something else? *
Projects are prime.
The Interfund initiative also wants to address the need to create less bureaucratic structures. By dealing with offi-
cial structures the Interfund is an attempt to prevent artists’ run and independent initiatives from becoming institu-
tionalised themselves. It should act as an effective bureaucracy protection shield.

The emphasis of the Interfund will lie on horizontal co-operation, which is anti-hierarchical and fundamentally de-
centralised. Nonetheless the question cannot be escaped who will take responsibility for making the structure work,
co-ordinate activities, deal with requests, etc. (who is doing what?). This division of responsibilities should be
worked out. The Interfund will have to be multi-nodal. To develop the Interfund as a democratic structure a voting
system will have to be considered, for instance when accepting individuals to the "board" of the Interfund. The mem-
bership of this board would then be temporary and rotating between members.

The Interfund should always be open to new members. However, every new member has to commit him- or her-self
to contributing to the shared pool of resources in some way, by donating skills, knowledge, non-propriety software,
financial means if possible, and a willingness to multilateral co-operation. These issues of membership, represen-
tation and expertise have to be clarified.

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