Information access would be limited to ISC, vendors whose products include BIND, root and TLD name server operators, and others at ISC's discretion. Though BIND is a fundamental component of the Internet, BIND users say that ISC runs the risk of alienating its users and OS vendors, who may not be willing to sign the requisit non-disclosure agreement or pay membership fees. Privacy advocates says such a move will leave subscribers exposed to greater security risks and government snooping. Those who take advantage of distributed computing run the risk of exposing sensitive and proprietary data as it passes through random customers' machines, opponents also contend. The new agreement affects 80 percent of Juno's 4 million subscribers, who must download software that replaces the screensaver and signals when a computer is not in use.
Researchers then chain together the CPU power from dormant machines to run intensive computations.
Juno's paying customers, roughly 800,000 users, are exempt from the new requirements. As with other free ISPs, New York-based Juno has struggled to find revenue to pay expenses. Subscribers to its free Internet service have already agreed to give up some screen space for advertisements. Juno now hopes to attract research firms, such as biotechnology companies, to buy its subscribers' extra computing power. Distributed computing has been practiced for years by volunteers who donate CPU power to AIDS and cancer research, community programs and the search for extraterrestrial life.