View source for Phoenix Labs (software)

{{Short description|Software developers}}
{{distinguish|text=the development studio of the same name [[Phoenix Labs]]}}
{{multiple issues|
{{notability|Organizations|date=April 2019}}
{{more citations needed|date=November 2019}}
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'''Phoenix Labs''' (formerly '''Methlabs''') was a [[software developer|software developing]] community founded by Tim Leonard and Ken McClelland and best known for [[PeerGuardian]], an [[open-source software]] program optimized for use as a [[personal firewall]] on [[file sharing]] networks.

==History==
The group was originally organized to work on PeerGuardian, a program Leonard created in 2003 in response to the shutdown of the [[Audiogalaxy]] file sharing site.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://p2pnet.net/story/2192 |title=P2pnet.net - the original daily p2p and digital media news site |access-date=2006-01-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060415181409/http://p2pnet.net/story/2192 |archive-date=2006-04-15 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The name Methlabs came from Leonard's handle, 'method'. In late 2004, the group added Blocklist.org, a website designed to allow users to interactively manage and block the IP addresses of certain organisations and companies.

Phoenix Labs was formed in September 2005 following a dispute between members of the Methlabs team. According to a Phoenix Labs press release, a "series of threats and incidents" forced most of the group out of the methlabs.org website.<ref>[http://phoenixlabs.org/press.html Phoenix Labs Press release]</ref> The press release attributed this action to a team member with responsibility for finances and server control. Based on information from other participants, internet news sources identified this person as using the [[nickname]] "Cerberius", but Cerberius reportedly disputed their charges of domain hijacking and described the situation as a "revolt".  Method and a few members of the group decided they could not get the methlabs.com domain back, and decided took suggestions for a new name on their IRC channel.  A user named 'bizzyb0t' came up with the name "phoenixlabs.org" to represent the group being reborn "rising from the ashes".

==Products==

[[PeerGuardian]] and PeerGuardian 2 are [[free software|free]] and [[Open-source software|open source]] programs capable of blocking incoming and outgoing connections based on [[IP address|IP]] [[Blacklist#Computing|blocklists]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Phoenix Labs PG 2|url=http://www.phoenixlabs.org/pg2/|access-date=2020-11-08|website=www.phoenixlabs.org}}</ref> Their purpose is to block several organizations, including the [[RIAA]] and [[MPAA]] while using file sharing networks such as [[FastTrack]] and [[BitTorrent (protocol)|BitTorrent]]. The system is also [[advertising]], [[spyware]], [[government]] and [[educational]] ranges, depending upon user preferences.

Other programs developed by Phoenix Labs are XS, a file-sharing hub and client, and DeepDelete, a program for erasing files securely and make them extremely difficult to recover. The latter is no longer under development. {{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}

==External links==
* [http://www.phoenixlabs.org/ Phoenix Labs website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080518094357/http://wiki.phoenixlabs.org/ Phoenix Labs wiki]

==Sources==
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[[Category:Computer security organizations]]
[[Category:Internet privacy]]
[[Category:Computer network organizations]]