Transitioning Zero-Knowledge Systems: From Freedom Network to Home Security

The company that pushed encryption and networking technology to the limits to enhance people's privacy said Thursday that it has decided to close its flagship anonymity network and focus on security software for home users. Security software maker Zero-Knowledge Systems announced . . . The company that pushed encryption and networking technology to the limits to enhance people's privacy said Thursday that it has decided to close its flagship anonymity network and focus on security software for home users. Security software maker Zero-Knowledge Systems announced that it would shut down the premium service component of its Freedom Network, which let people surf the Internet and send e-mail with almost complete privacy by using pseudonyms.

Although more than 70,000 people signed on to the free test of the service two years ago, the swell of interest didn't wash up more than a small number of paying subscribers, said Austin Hill, co-founder and vice president of the company.

"Scaling the network, the price of bandwidth--there's a significant cost with running an overlay network, and we didn't get enough interest to be able to offer the service with that price tag," he said.

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