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The PDPC is an organisation led and solely operated by Rob Levin (a.k.a. lilo) which runs the Freenode IRC network.

The PDPC is incorporated in the state of Texas, USA; and is an IRS 501(c)(3) charitable and educational organization.

Goals

The PDPC website describes themselves as follows:

Peer-Directed Projects Center, an IRS 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation, was created to run the freenode network and to establish a variety of programs relating to peer-directed project communities. Contributions to PDPC provide resources to help us establish those programs.

According to their charter, the PDPC exists "to help peer-directed project communities flourish", mostly based around free and open source software projects, and encouraging the use of free software through supporting it's development. Many open source development groups including the GNU Project use the Freenode network for communication.

Criticisms

Like most IRC networks, Freenode bandwidth and server machines are put forth completely by volunteers. PDPC donations go solely to Rob Levin, the only paid employee of the organization. Many question the necessity of having a full-time paid IRC administrator. Other IRC networks without paid administrators include OFTC, and Atheme. Many note that Rob Levin and his wife already live on the goodwill of the public as they collect disability checks. Taking note of this, Rob Levin has been called a "professional online beggar" by a popular news publication.

A series of network disruptions brought into the question the competency with which the Freenode network was run:

• In October 2005, ex–GNAA member Grog received "staff" status on the Freenode IRC network from Rob Levin (lilo) by posing as Greg Lehey, developer of FreeBSD and MySQL, who happened to have a similar IRC nickname. Grog proceeded to unjupe #GNAA, jupe several of the more popular channels including: #wikipedia, #linux, and #solaris, and overall caused FUD. Initial reports claimed a staffer had been hacked. However, it was later determined that it had been an act of social engineering.
• In June 2006, a hacker somehow obtained Rob Levin's oper block and nick services password. In a network press conference, Freenode officials cited the GNAA and Bantown as suspects. The ability of hackers to obtain the most priveledged access level on the network called into question the security of all Freenode passwords. It was noted by commentators that that that Rob Levin failed to use an encrypted link to Freenode servers, allowing his oper block password to be sniffed off the wire.

IRC networks such as the Eris Free Network handle three or more times the userbase of Freenode without major incidents like these.

Rob Levin was indicted federally for allegedly stealing from a non-profit corporation he was employed by in 2002; nothing came of the charges.

References

1. GNU Project Will Use Freenode as Its Official IRC Network, GNU Project, August 26, 2002
2. Buy a piece of Net nostalgia for $5000, The Register, January 29, 2003
3. Freenode Hijacking Response Logs, June 26, 2006.
4. Freenode Network Hacked, Passwords Compromised, Slashdot, June 25, 2006
5. Criminal docket for case number 3:92-cr-00369-1, USA v Robert Levin, Judge Joe Kendall, August 28, 2002

External links

• Overview of PDPC

• Non-profit organizations