This paper chronicles the history of the French Data Network (FDN), France's first community network and first Internet access provider open to the general public, from its foundation in 1992 to the creation of the Fédération FDN in 2011. In the French context, state and public actors have been central in the development of early computer networks such as Cyclades, RENATER, and Minitel. While these actors have already received scholarly attention, very little consideration has been given to the political action of grassroots actors such as FDN, and to their role in the co-shaping of computer networks, their politics, and their users. To help remedy these gaps, the paper traces the evolution of FDN from early concern with Internet access and education to its more recent political commitments. In doing so, this paper simultaneously contributes to the development of a French national history of computer networks, to the ongoing diversification of the historiography of digital rights activism, as well as to future comparative research.