Freenode#Ownership change and conflict

File:Map of freenode servers.svg

Freenode began as a four-person Linux support channel called {{Mono|1=#LinPeople}} on EFnet, another IRC network. By 1995, after moving to Undernet, and then to DALnet, it moved from being just a channel to its own network, irc.linpeople.org. In early 1998, it changed to Open Projects Net (OPN) with about 200 users and under 20 channels.{{Cite book |last=Filson |first=Eric |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-vd6wozE8SEC&q=freenode+1998&pg=PA374 |title=Setting Up Lamp: Getting Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP Working Together |last2=Rosebrock |first2=Eric |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2004 |isbn=978-0782143379 |page=374 |access-date=19 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521043504/https://books.google.com/books?id=-vd6wozE8SEC&q=freenode+1998&pg=PA374 |archive-date=21 May 2021 |url-status=live}} OPN soon grew to become the largest network for the free software community, and 20th largest in the world.

In 2002, the name changed to Freenode. The OPN domains were later put up for sale, but did not sell.{{Cite web |last=McCarthy |first=Kieren |date=29 January 2003 |title=Buy a piece of Net nostalgia for $5,000 |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/01/29/buy_a_piece_of_net/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031013650/http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/01/29/buy_a_piece_of_net/ |archive-date=31 October 2012 |access-date=19 March 2013 |website=The Register}}

In 2002 the Peer-Directed Projects Center (PDPC) was founded to support Freenode.{{Cite web |title=Peer-Directed Projects Center |url=https://freenode.net/pdpc.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130218193455/http://freenode.net/pdpc.shtml |archive-date=18 February 2013 |access-date=19 March 2013 |website=freenode.net |df=dmy-all}}{{Cite web |title=History and Growth |url=https://freenode.net/history.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060926123355/http://freenode.net/history.shtml |archive-date=26 September 2006 |access-date=19 March 2013 |publisher=freenode.net |df=dmy-all}} PDPC was incorporated in Texas and the IRS recognised it as a 501(c)(3) charity from 2002{{Cite web |title=Peer-Directed Projects Center |url=http://www.guidestar.org/organizations/74-3033697/peer-directed-projects-center.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051226045039/http://partners.guidestar.org/controller/search.gs?action_searchFin=1&partner=networkforgood&keywords=74-3033697&zip=&subCategoryCriteria=&orgName=&state=&city=&cartId=24887765&allowEinInKeywords=true |archive-date=26 December 2005 |access-date=19 March 2013 |publisher=Network for Good}} until approximately 2010,{{Cite web |title=Exempt Organizations Select Check: Automatic Revocation of Exemption Information |url=https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/displayRevocation.do?dispatchMethod=displayRevokeInfo&revocationId=278682&ein=743033697 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6AIO68P64?url=http://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/displayRevocation.do?dispatchMethod=displayRevokeInfo&revocationId=278682&ein=743033697&exemptTypeCode=al&isDescending=false&totalResults=10&postDateTo=&ein1=&state=TX&dispatchMethod=searchRevocation&postDateFrom=&country=US&ci |archive-date=30 August 2012 |access-date=19 March 2013 |publisher=Internal Revenue Service |df=dmy-all}} during which it received support from such organizations as the Linux Fund in 2007.{{Cite web |last=Orion |first=Egan |date=21 August 2007 |title=The Linux Fund rises again |url=http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1002122/the-linux-fund-rises-again |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221100721/http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1002122/the-linux-fund-rises-again |archive-date=21 February 2014 |access-date=19 March 2013 |website=The Inquirer}}

On 24 June 2006, a user with the nickname {{Mono|1=ratbert}} gained administrative privileges of Freenode administrator Rob Levin ({{mono|lilo}}) and took control of the network. It is likely that approximately 25 user passwords were stolen as a result.{{Cite web |date=26 June 2006 |title=Freenode Network Hijacked, Passwords Compromised? |url=http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=189470&cid=15603568 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116085606/https://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=189470&cid=15603568 |archive-date=16 November 2018 |access-date=19 March 2013 |website=Slashdot}} This user proceeded to K-line many Freenode staff members, and most Freenode servers subsequently went down for several hours.{{Cite web |last=Farrell |first=Nick |date=26 June 2006 |title=Freenode IRC Network hacked |url=http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1014005/freenode-irc-network-hacked |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130814125221/http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1014005/freenode-irc-network-hacked |archive-date=14 August 2013 |access-date=19 March 2013 |website=The Inquirer}}

Around 30 January 2010, an internet troll organization, Gay Nigger Association of America, took an established exploit in HTML form and HTTP POST implementation (previously used in attacks on email protocols, e.g. POP3 and SMTP) and applied it to the IRC protocol to create a novel type of attack on Freenode, which had never been seen before in the wild.{{Cite news |last=Constantin |first=Lucian |date=30 January 2010 |title=Firefox Bug Used to Harass Entire IRC Network |url=http://news.softpedia.com/news/Firefox-Bug-Used-to-Harass-an-Entire-IRC-Network-133613.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130403165559/http://news.softpedia.com/news/Firefox-Bug-Used-to-Harass-an-Entire-IRC-Network-133613.shtml |archive-date=3 April 2013 |access-date=19 March 2013 |work=Softpedia}} The organization created a piece of JavaScript that caused users of Mozilla-based browsers such as Firefox and SeaMonkey to silently connect to Freenode and flood it. This exploit used an ability of Firefox to submit web forms to a port other than 80 (the default HTTP port). Whilst Firefox developers had blocked most ports some time ago,{{Cite web |date=15 August 2007 |title=Mozilla Port Blocking |url=https://www-archive.mozilla.org/projects/netlib/PortBanning.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180118010611/https://www-archive.mozilla.org/projects/netlib/PortBanning.html |archive-date=18 January 2018 |access-date=18 June 2018 |publisher=Mozilla}} port 6667, the port typically used for IRC, was not blocked.{{Cite news |last=van der Meijs |first=Sander |date=1 February 2010 |title=Bug in Firefox gebruikt tegen IRC netwerk |url=http://webwereld.nl/nieuws/84529/bug-in-firefox-gebruikt-tegen-irc-netwerk.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722020857/http://webwereld.nl/nieuws/84529/bug-in-firefox-gebruikt-tegen-irc-netwerk.html |archive-date=22 July 2012 |access-date=19 March 2013 |work=Webwereld |publisher=IDG Netherlands |language=nl |quote=Een groep die zichzelf de GNAA noemt heeft voor grote problemen gezorgd bij een IRC netwerk. Ze gebruikten een bug in Firefox om het netwerk te spammen. [A group that calls itself the GNAA has caused major problems in an IRC network. They used a bug in Firefox for the network to spam]}} The group used Encyclopedia Dramatica (a user-modifiable wiki, like Wikipedia) as a distribution vector, with the flooded messages directing users to click on a link to the modified Encyclopedia Dramatica page, causing those users to also become involved and resulting in a cascading snowball effect. Weev, one of the group members responsible, later claimed that the attack had rendered the network "unusable [...] for days" due to what he perceived as incompetence among Freenode's staff at the time. He stated that the organization had also tried the same attack on other networks but had been shut down far more rapidly.

On 2 February 2014, Freenode suffered a DDoS attack (confirmed by {{Mono|@freenodestaff}} on Twitter) which caused a partial outage.{{Cite web |title=Freenode IRC is down |url=http://hn.meteor.com/posts/7168282-791bf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140203130624/http://hn.meteor.com/posts/7168282-791bf |archive-date=3 February 2014 |access-date=2 February 2014 |website=Hacker News |df=dmy-all}}

On 22 February 2014, Freenode suffered another DDoS attack{{Cite web |date=22 February 2014 |title=We're being DDoS'd. Things might appear splitty or otherwise broken, but we and our most gracious sponsors (thank you!) are mitigating it. |url=https://twitter.com/freenodestaff/status/437259178487578624 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150129092034/https://twitter.com/freenodestaff/status/437259178487578624 |archive-date=29 January 2015 |access-date=4 October 2014 |website=Twitter}} which caused partial outage, followed by several botnets which attempted to attack {{Mono|#freenode}} but were redirected to {{Mono|#freenode-unreg}}. After the attacks, several servers remained nullrouted by their providers and, for a short time period, only a single server in rotation was accepting connections.{{Cite web |title=Turbulence |url=https://blog.freenode.net/2014/02/turbulence/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227023432/https://blog.freenode.net/2014/02/turbulence/ |archive-date=27 February 2014 |access-date=22 February 2014 |website=staffblog |df=dmy-all}}

On 13 September 2014, a DDoS attack occurred which caused the network to split for several hours, followed by several botnet attacks in the {{Mono|#freenode}} channel and against Freenode's services. Freenode's infrastructure team noticed a vulnerability on one of their IRC servers and evidence of compromise by an unknown third party. Freenode recommended that all users change their NickServ password for safety reasons, and temporarily took the compromised server offline until the vulnerability was fixed.{{Cite web |title=Server issues |url=http://blog.freenode.net/2014/09/server-issues-2/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913160524/https://blog.freenode.net/2014/09/server-issues-2/ |archive-date=13 September 2014 |access-date=13 September 2014 |website=staffblog |df=dmy-all}}{{Cite web |date=15 September 2014 |title=Freenode IRC users told to change passwords after securo-breach |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/15/freenode_irc_users_warned_breach/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150613121806/https://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/15/freenode_irc_users_warned_breach/ |archive-date=13 June 2015 |access-date=13 June 2015 |website=The Register}} On 14 October 2014, NCC Group released a deep technical analysis of the rootkit used in the attack.{{Cite web |title=Analysis of the Linux backdoor used in Freenode IRC network compromise |url=https://www.nccgroup.com/en/blog/2014/10/analysis-of-the-linux-backdoor-used-in-freenode-irc-network-compromise/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141014151209/https://www.nccgroup.com/en/blog/2014/10/analysis-of-the-linux-backdoor-used-in-freenode-irc-network-compromise/ |archive-date=14 October 2014 |access-date=14 October 2014 |website=nccgroup.com}}

In 2015, Freenode was bridged to Matrix via matrix.org.{{Cite web |title=The matrix.org IRC bridge now bridges all of Freenode! |url=https://matrix.org/blog/2015/06/22/the-matrix-org-irc-bridge-now-bridges-all-of-freenode |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227102709/https://matrix.org/blog/2015/06/22/the-matrix-org-irc-bridge-now-bridges-all-of-freenode/ |archive-date=27 December 2020 |access-date=21 September 2020 |website=Matrix.org |language=en}}

On 17 August 2017, Freenode suffered from a "fairly extensive spambot attack ... containing child pornography images." In the midst of combating the attack, the operators accidentally set a K-line banning most users of the network.{{Cite web |title=Spambot Attack |url=https://freenode.net/news/spamwave |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818215018/https://freenode.net/news/spamwave |archive-date=18 August 2017 |access-date=18 August 2017 |website=staffblog}} The spambot attack continued in the following year, involving even more networks, and was called "Freenodegate".{{Cite web |title="freenodegate" spam |url=https://www.dnsbl.im/en/2018/07/26/freenodegate-spam/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212011308/https://www.dnsbl.im/en/2018/07/26/freenodegate-spam/ |archive-date=12 February 2019 |access-date=10 February 2019 |website=antispam}} Attackers also created sites attacking the administrators of Freenode.{{Cite web |title=Current spambot attack on freenode (and elsewhere) |url=https://freenode.net/news/spambot-attack |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212070544/https://freenode.net/news/spambot-attack |archive-date=12 February 2019 |access-date=10 February 2019 |website=staffblog}}

{{Cite check|date=May 2021|section}}

After OPN co-founder Rob Levin died in September 2006, Christel Dahlskjaer, a PDPC board member,{{Cite web |date=22 May 2007 |title=Freenode and OFTC IRC networks buddy up |url=https://www.linux.com/news/freenode-and-oftc-irc-networks-buddy/ |access-date=26 May 2021}} incorporated Peer-Directed Projects Center Limited in 2008 in the UK as a private company limited by guarantee without share capital, stating "general non-profit making enterprise" as its object.{{Cite web |date=26 August 2008 |title=Incorporation |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06680918/filing-history/MjAxMTc2NDMzMWFkaXF6a2N4/document?format=pdf&download=0}} PDPC Ltd. said it was the successor of the US-based PDPC. PDPC Ltd. reported £3,060 in net assets for 2009,{{Cite web |date=22 July 2010 |title=Total exemption small company accounts made up to 31 August 2009 |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06680918/filing-history/MzAxOTk4NTcwNmFkaXF6a2N4/document?format=pdf&download=0}} reported Dahlskjaer as officer in 2010{{Cite web |date=6 January 2011 |title=Annual return made up to 26 August 2010 no member list |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06680918/filing-history/MzAyOTg2OTAwN2FkaXF6a2N4/document?format=pdf&download=0}} and was dissolved in 2013.{{Cite web |date=12 March 2013 |title=Final Gazette dissolved via compulsory strike-off |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06680918/filing-history/MzA3MzkyMTk2M2FkaXF6a2N4/document?format=pdf&download=0}}

In 2017, Dahlskjaer, then the head of staff at Freenode, incorporated Freenode Limited and transferred ownership of it to technology entrepreneur Andrew Lee in 2017.{{Cite web |title=PIA and freenode joining forces - freenode |url=https://freenode.net/news/pia-fn |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520054257/https://freenode.net/news/pia-fn |archive-date=20 May 2021 |access-date=23 November 2019 |website=freenode.net}} According to staff, they were not informed of the contents of the deal and were told that it would not affect Freenode's day-to-day operations as the company only managed the Freenode #live conferences and nothing else;{{Cite news |date=19 May 2021 |title=Freenode IRC staff resign en masse, unhappy about new management |url=https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/19/freenode_staff_resigns/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521043242/https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/19/freenode_staff_resigns/ |archive-date=21 May 2021 |access-date=19 May 2021 |work=The Register}} other volunteers understood the company's purpose was funding the network and running the conferences. Freenode Limited reported no activity in 2017. In 2018, current assets were reported to be £39,276, while amounts falling due to creditors within one year were reported to be £42,098.{{Cite web |date=2 July 2019 |title=Micro company accounts made up to 31 August 2018 |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/10308021/filing-history/MzIzODM4NDg3NWFkaXF6a2N4/document?format=pdf&download=0}}

File:IRC top 10 networks 2021.png

In May 2021, at least 14 Freenode staff members resigned after what they described as a "hostile takeover" attempt by Lee. In February 2021, Dahlskjaer added the logo of Shells, a company and service which Lee co-founded, to the Freenode website. Following criticism from staff, Dahlskjaer resigned from leadership of Freenode shortly after. Following Dahlskjaer's resignation, Freenode staff elected Tom Wesley ({{Tt|tomaw}}) as head of staff and made a blog post explaining the leadership changes.{{Cite web |date=18 April 2021 |title=Changes to the organisational structure of freenode |url=https://freenode.net/news/freenode-reorg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419000218/https://freenode.net/news/freenode-reorg |archive-date=19 April 2021 |access-date=12 August 2021}} Staff allege that Lee removed the blog post shortly after. Hackaday reported that an associate of Andrew Lee, Shane Allen, was recorded making statements that he would be promoted to staff member, and was also recorded recruiting others for staff. Hackaday also reported that Allen offered Alpine Linux security team chair, Ariadne Conill, donations to her project if she joined their team and supported Lee's claim to Freenode. On 11 May, Lee appointed a new person to oversee Freenode infrastructure and published a statement accusing staff members of ousting Dahlskjaer. Freenode staff resigned en masse, and some published statements outlining their view of what happened. Some accused Lee of applying legal pressure to Wesley.

Lee said this was not true, and said that he had provided Freenode with millions of dollars, and that the staffers ousted Dahlskjaer as head of staff. Lee also accused Wesley of harassing Dahlskjaer and of attempting a "hostile takeover". In a statement released by Lee, he said that he is entitled to access Freenode's servers as he is the owner of Freenode Limited.

Vice wrote that it was unclear what would happen to organizations that rely on Freenode. Hackaday reported that Vim and RepRap had migrated from Freenode to Libera Chat, a new IRC network announced by some of the former staff members shortly after the mass resignations. Anil Dash, a technology entrepreneur, stated that it was "heartbreaking to see Freenode in disarray after decades of being a vital open platform for communities." Jackie Singh, a cybersecurity engineer, also thanked former Freenode staff members for their work.

On 26 May 2021, Freenode took control of approximately 700 registered channels – including those of Gentoo Linux, Raku, Elixir and Haskell – which had migrated or intended to migrate to Libera Chat. This came after Freenode modified its off-topic policy to prohibit "inappropriate advertising" several days prior. The Gentoo Linux project said "We cannot perceive this otherwise than as an open act of hostility and we have effectively left Freenode."{{Cite web |last=Francisco |first=Thomas Claburn |date=26 May 2021 |title=After staff revolt, Freenode management takes over hundreds of IRC channels for 'policy violations' |url=https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/26/freenode_irc_takeover/ |access-date=26 May 2021 |website=www.theregister.com |language=en}} Lee dismissed the criticism, stating that a "cancel culture mob has actively infiltrated major FOSS projects".

On 14 June 2021, Freenode administrators launched a new network under the freenode name based on InspIRCd and Anope IRC services, intended to replace the previous network. Unlike previous migrations, none of the data from the old network, such as user and channel registration, was migrated over to the new network.{{Cite web |last=Hofmans |first=Tijs |date=16 June 2021 |title=IRC-netwerk Freenode splitst zich en verwijdert bestaande kanalen en nicks |url=https://tweakers.net/nieuws/183210/irc-netwerk-freenode-splitst-zich-en-verwijdert-bestaande-kanalen-en-nicks.html |access-date=17 June 2021 |website=Tweakers |language=nl}}

The network previously focused on supporting peer-directed and open-source projects.

In 1999, Freenode ran an IRCd called Dancer (based on IRC-Hybrid), then switched to Hyperion in 2005. Hyperion was then replaced with IRCd-Seven, a Freenode-specific fork of Charybdis,{{Cite web |title=ircd-seven |url=https://freenode.net/seven.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130315171205/http://freenode.net/seven.shtml |archive-date=15 March 2013 |access-date=13 March 2013 |publisher=freenode.net |df=dmy-all}} on 30 January 2010,{{Cite web |last=((phrozen77)) |date=30 January 2010 |title=freenode migration to ircd-seven successfully completed |url=http://www.irc-junkie.org/2010-01-30/freenode-migration-to-ircd-seven-successfully-completed/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130204005542/http://www.irc-junkie.org/2010-01-30/freenode-migration-to-ircd-seven-successfully-completed/ |archive-date=4 February 2013 |access-date=19 March 2013 |website=IRC-Junkie.org |df=dmy-all}}{{Cite web |date=26 January 2010 |title=Migration to ircd-seven |url=https://blog.freenode.net/2010/01/migration-to-new-ircd/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130402185553/http://blog.freenode.net/2010/01/migration-to-new-ircd/ |archive-date=2 April 2013 |access-date=19 March 2013 |publisher=blog.freenode.net |df=dmy-all}} using Atheme services, which were originally developed for use on Freenode.{{Cite web |last=Conill |first=Ariadne |date=14 June 2021 |title=The End of Freenode |url=https://ariadne.space/2021/06/14/the-end-of-freenode/ |access-date=17 August 2021}} {{as of|2021|June}}, Freenode ran Anope IRC Services and InspIRCd.{{Cite web |title=Freenode commits suicide, is no longer a serious IRC network |url=https://www.devever.net/~hl/freenode_suicide |access-date=29 June 2021}}

The Peer-Directed Projects Center (PDPC) is known as the organization which ran{{Cite web |last=RichiH |date=19 March 2013 |title=Bye bye PDPC |url=https://blog.freenode.net/2013/03/bye-bye-pdpc |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130322063238/http://blog.freenode.net/2013/03/bye-bye-pdpc/ |archive-date=22 March 2013 |access-date=19 March 2013 |website=blog.freenode.net |df=dmy-all}} the Freenode IRC network,{{Cite web |title=About the Network |url=https://freenode.net/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130316154840/http://freenode.net/ |archive-date=16 March 2013 |access-date=19 March 2013 |publisher=Peer-Directed Projects Center (PDPC)}} where many prominent open source projects hosted their official IRC channels. The PDPC was incorporated in England and Wales.

PDPC was created to run the Freenode network and to establish a variety of programs relating to peer-directed project communities. According to its 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 its development. Until June 2021, the GNU Project{{Cite web |date=26 August 2002 |title=GNU Project Will Use freenode as Its Official IRC Network |url=https://www.gnu.org/press/2002-08-26-freenode.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511012036/https://gnu.org/press/2002-08-26-freenode.html |archive-date=11 May 2013 |access-date=19 March 2013 |publisher=GNU Project}} used the Freenode network for communication.

The PDPC was founded and initially directed by Rob Levin. In November 2006, the board went through a reshuffle and new members were installed. Seth Schoen left and Christel Dahlskjaer, senior Freenode staffer, became the secretary and head of staff on Freenode in Schoen's place. Also joining the board was David Levin, Rob's brother.{{Cite web |date=11 November 2006 |title=Introducing the PDPC board |url=https://blog.freenode.net/2006/11/introducing-the-pdpc-board/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121130193558/http://blog.freenode.net/2006/11/introducing-the-pdpc-board/ |archive-date=30 November 2012 |access-date=19 March 2013 |publisher=freenode.net |df=dmy-all}}

In March 2013, the PDPC was dissolved. The decision to dissolve was made in part due to the donation levels and costs associated with maintaining its status as a charitable organization in the UK.

Robert Levin,{{cite web | url= https://freenode.net/news/announcement-rob-levin-has-passed-away |title= Rob Levin, a man who will be greatly missed |date= 23 September 2006 |author= christel |website= freenode.net |access-date= 19 March 2013 |archive-date= 27 March 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160327181404/http://freenode.net/news/announcement-rob-levin-has-passed-away }} also known as {{Tt|lilo}}, was the founder of the Freenode IRC network and Executive Director of the PDPC charity that helped fund Freenode. From 1994 onwards, Levin worked to encourage the use of IRC for free software and open-source projects. Levin was one of the founders of the Open Projects Network (OPN), and later of the PDPC.

In 2003, The Register (UK) reported that Levin mismanaged funds intended for the OPN, quoting him as writing that they went "to paying bills, to paying the rent, to buying food and necessities."{{cite web |url= https://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/01/29/buy_a_piece_of_net/ |title= Buy a piece of Net nostalgia for $5,000 |first= Kieren |last= McCarthy |date= 29 January 2003 |work= The Register |access-date= 19 March 2013 |archive-date= 31 October 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121031013650/http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/01/29/buy_a_piece_of_net/ |url-status= live }}

On 12 September 2006, Levin was struck by a motorist while riding a bicycle at night in Houston, Texas. After the collision, Levin was hospitalized with head injuries. He died on 16 September, at the age of 50.

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