Distributed computing cobbles together the collective unused resources of the Net's computers to replicate the power of a supercomputer by breaking up big problems into small pieces that individual personal computers can nibble on. In the case of the Distributed.net program, however, aliens weren't the quarry. Instead, it focused on solving complicated encryption problems -- whenever DeKalb's students weren't actively using the college's computers, the screensaver would kick in, contact the Distributed.net system and start cranking away.

McOwen had worked on the first versions of the pioneering Hayes modem and had also helped develop worldwide DSL (digital subscriber line) standards -- his geek credentials are beyond challenge. One definition of a true computer geek may be that he or she never wants to see a computer processor cycle go wasted, so McOwen was thrilled that the DeKalb computers could be useful even when students weren't pumping out term papers. At one point, the DeKalb network of hundreds of computers even reached No. 1 on the Distributed.net charts, meaning that he was contributing more computational power to the encryption challenge than anyone else in the world.

"I saw what the technology was about, and it was a good technology -- a new technology and a pioneering effort, and certainly not bad or criminal in any way," says McOwen, a soft-spoken man in his late 30s. "If Distributed.net is successful, it has worldwide implications."

But while McOwen may know his way around a computer network, he appears to have been less savvy about how to negotiate with the DeKalb bureaucracy. Because DeKalb's administrators didn't agree with McOwen's assessment of the wonders of distributed computing. Six months after the Distributed.net screensaver began quietly churning away on the DeKalb computers, McOwen was pulled into an office and handed a letter that said he was going to be facing criminal charges. According to McOwen, the DeKalb administrators were equating the screensaver with a hacking tool.

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"I was never given a chance to just turn it off," says McOwen, who says the crackdown came from out of the blue. "I was never given an opportunity to explain what it was or how it worked ... It was just a blanket: boom, you're out of here."

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