( Yes, the WSJ title actually says "…" ;-) Yea Intel! Fuck Jeff Gordon! (oh, wrong article) http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB986949574599148237.htm # # April 11, 2001 # # An Anticopyright Activist Gets Funding For a Start-Up That Makes # … Software # # By LEE GOMES Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL # # An Irish computer programmer known for crusading against copyright # and other "intellectual property" laws has received $4 million # from Intel Corp. and others to start a for-profit, proprietary # company based on his software. # # Ian Clark, the 24-year-old author of a software program called # FreeNet, is also a co-founder of Uprizer Inc., a Los Angeles # start-up that Wednesday is scheduled to announce the investment # from Intel and two venture-capital firms. # # Mr. Clark is something of a hero, as well as a frequent speaker # and panelist, in the small segment of the computer world that # holds little respect for copyright or similar intellectual-pr # operty laws. In interviews, Mr. Clark has said that one day # copyright laws will be regarded the way society now regards # witch-burning. # # His FreeNet program is a file-transfer program that is similar # to Napster, Gnutella and other file-sharing systems. Like # Gnutella, FreeNet is completely decentralized and operates without # the need for a central server controlling its operations. But # FreeNet (freenet.sourceforge.net/)goes an extra step in that # the files that are passed around with FreeNet are encrypted, # or scrambled, in a way that makes it impossible for outsiders # to see what is being passed around on the network. # # While FreeNet has received extensive publicity in the past year, # partly because of the interest in Napster, it has far fewer actual # users than does software based on Gnutella or Napster. FreeNet # users have complained that the software is an inefficient system, # in part because of the large amount of computer resources expended # in keeping data encrypted and private. # # Mr. Clark's company, Uprizer, will be creating software based # on FreeNet. But despite his somewhat novel ideas about copyright # laws, Uprizer will be selling traditional proprietary software. # # Uprizer said Mr. Clark wasn't available to discuss Uprizer. But # Rob Kramer, the Uprizer co-founder who will be its chief # executive, maintained that Uprizer and FreeNet aren't related # to each other. "Ian is a very smart person who has other goals # in his life, and Uprizer is one of them," Mr. Kramer said. # # Mr. Kramer said Uprizer will be selling software that will allow # computer users, such as people inside companies, to exchange # information and files with each other. Mr. Kramer said Uprizer # will be using technology built into FreeNet that automatically # brings files close to the groups of people wanting them. He said, # though, that Uprizer's product won't have the anonymity and # encryption that is built into FreeNet. # # Uprizer is another company in what is being called "peer-to-peer" # computing, a catch-all phrase that is used to describe a number # of different ways that computers are being linked to perform # common tasks.