“In a bid to win broader acceptance for its simplified Net
addressing system, RealNames tomorrow will unveil plans to give
away its technology and develop it under the open-source
model.”
“Like a growing list of companies and independent software
developers, RealNames (formerly called Centraal) is betting that by
making its software freely available, it can hasten the
technology’s adoption.”
“Its success could have a dramatic impact on the way Web users
find Web pages and how companies market their online properties, by
allowing ordinary words to stand in for complex URLs, which point
browsers to specific Web pages. The company’s software is already
featured on Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser but has faced
hurdles in getting universally accepted.”