As the designer of Lotus Notes, Ray Ozzie helped introduce the white-collar crowd to email and sounded the death knell of old-fashioned corporate command and control. In 1997, he founded Groove Networks, a blue-chip startup designed to let the rank and file build ad hoc information "spaces" from the ground up. The software suite, which has always-on encryption and a peer-to-peer architecture, is a bold attempt to breach the IT walls between organizations in the name of sharing resources. Now it's embedded in the heart of the US-led effort to rebuild Iraq.
WIRED: Trendy collaboration software finds its dream environment in Iraq?
OZZIE: I wouldn't use the words dream and Iraq in the same sentence, but it's a good test case. One of the things we didn't anticipate is that a lot of humanitarian assistance agencies might not want to use a system hosted by the US Department of Defense. Groove essentially creates an ownerless online space in which everyone can share information equally, without somebody's IT department having control.
What are the various agencies and nongovernmental organizations using it for?
A simple application might bring together all the people who prepare daily briefings for top officials. On a deeper level, it's being used to share security incidents among military personnel, NGOs, contractors - people trying to share information very quickly. The fact that it's encrypted and brings all the right people together securely is a big deal.
In the US, Groove powers the Homeland Security Information System. Is it weird for Uncle Sam to be an early adopter?
We didn't plan it that way, but then we didn't understand how much of a pain it was to create secure cross-boundary communication between agencies. Government is a big customer, but we also have about 40 percent enterprise and 20 percent individual and small-business customers.
As encrypted network grows in popularity, is there a danger that these so-called darknets will replace bigger and bigger chunks of the Internet?
It's not a danger - it's a requirement. Historically, corporations had physical walls. Firewalls try to emulate them, but it's not the way we work anymore. We need virtual boundaries around our workgroups - which may include a lot of people from other organizations - not around corporations. The only way to accomplish that is with darknets.
And the Internet as we know it will wither?
Amazon.com and eBay, publishing, transaction systems - those things are never going to be on a dark net. On the other hand, the confidential communication you have between you and an eBay seller might be.
Even with a search warrant, Groove spaces are virtually impregnable - perfect for, say, a terrorist cell. Does that worry you?
I wouldn't say I'm worried, but I'm keenly aware of the possibility. A standard rationalization is that ubiquitous communications technologies - the phone, the PC - are inherently neutral. Does it bother me that things I've worked on can be used in contexts that are bad for society? Certainly. But by working directly with government agencies and NGOs, we're trying to give them an edge.
What about using your Groove Workspace to foment rebellion against the CEO?
That would be really neat, at least within this organization.
- Spencer Reiss
credit Allan Penn
Keep out: CEO Ray Ozzieés Groove software secures online spaces.
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