Academic File-sharing Open source code now available

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Penn State and Internet2 Announce Release of Academic File-sharing Open=20
Source Code

AUSTIN, TX - September 28, 2004 - Plans for secure, high-powered,=20
peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing technology for academia has come one big =

step closer to fruition when today Penn State and Internet2(R) announced =

the release of open source code for their collaborative software=20
project, LionShare.

Funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, LionShare merges =

electronic file-exchange capabilities with information gathering tools=20
into one dynamic application.

Gary Augustson, Penn State's vice provost for information technology=20
said, "This is a technology that promises to significantly improve the=20
way institutions collaborate and support each other's academic=20
endeavors, while simultaneously ensuring a secure authenticated=20
computing environment for researchers who use its file-sharing=20
capabilities."

This week's LionShare source code release will provide all interested=20
programmers and developers with the opportunity to contribute valuable=20
feedback and suggestions. At the same time, Lionshare partners=20
including: Internet2, Simon Fraser University of Canada; and the=20
Massachusetts Institute of Technology will continue to fine-tune the=20
project software which is slated for official beta release for=20
universities and institutions this upcoming January.

"We knew we had something special here, but there was no way we could=20
have anticipated the enthusiasm that LionShare has generated," commented =

Michael Halm, the project's lead architect and manager. "Organizations=20
from around the world have contacted us with questions about the=20
technology and requests for the open source code release date, and many=20
groups have expressed interest in collaboration. We're pleased that the=20
code is now available."

Several educational and research institutions have expressed interest in =

Lionshare's unique capabilities for resource exchange - including its=20
ability to transfer audio, video, scientific simulations, text,=20
documents, research papers, Web resources and a variety of other=20
learning activities.

"LionShare has enormous potential," remarked Loukas Kalisperis,=20
professor of architecture at Penn State. "With this single application,=20
collaborating faculty can build digital repositories such as 3-D=20
architectural image collections, Web-based video archives and art=20
collections. Faculty will also have a range of tools at their fingertips =

for managing and exchanging their own personal collections, in addition=20
to having access to large-scale data repositories throughout the United=20
States and Europe."

Kalisperis is among a number of scholars and scientists who have offered =

their suggestions to team members as project plans unfolded this past=20
year. Feedback from faculty at Penn State and other institutions is=20
enabling developers to enhance the software's features with cutting-edge =

security, authentication, and password handling capabilities - plus a=20
high performance text search engine and a technology (developed by Simon =

Fraser) that will make secure, single-search inquiries of certain=20
worldwide digital repositories possible.

The continual dialogue with developers and potential network users has=20
significantly furthered the development of the technology.

"With the source code release on September 30, interested programmers=20
and application developers can now access the code to use and/or modify=20
for their needs and specifications," added Halm. "Feedback from=20
programmers, as well as our peer institutions, will be essential in our=20
efforts to further the development of the software. These efforts will=20
culminate in the launch of an academic file-sharing network that=20
researchers will be able to test and use this January."

To learn more about LionShare and to access the new open source code -=20
or to join the developers community, go to=20
http://lionshare.its.psu.edu/main/.


About LionShare
The LionShare project, funded by Andrew W. Mellon, is a collaboration=20
between Penn State and partner organizations including Internet2; Simon=20
Fraser University of Canada; and the Massachusetts Institute of=20
Technology's Open Knowledge Initiative (OKI). The LionShare project grew =

out of VIUS (Visual Image User Study), an experimental software=20
development project designed to assist Penn State University faculty=20
with digital file management.


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