Numerous bands - mostly unknown and unsigned - have made their music available for free download with an honesty box policy on donations. 'The Mooncakes Project', a Belgian guitar and DJ duo, write on their website that donations are "not an obligation, but for every download made without a donation, we will be killing one kitten." Jennifer Avalon, a Massachussetts-based Christian singer invites downloaders of her songs to "donate via Paypal for the music you really like".

www.themooncakes.net ; www.jenniferavalon.net

OpenOffice.org produces free alternatives to the programs that comprise Microsoft's flagship Office suite, including a word processor and spreadsheet. The project is 'open source', meaning the programs are written by volunteer developers, and downloaders are "free to make a donation to the cause."

www.openoffice.org

Dogsbyte.com offers for free anti-virus and other software for download, including an anti-spam "package" called BLScanPlus. The program available are "developed and funded at my expense," the site's author writes, and users are invited to "make a small donation of (their) choice".

www.dogsbyte.com

'Projection Gutenberg', a Chicago-based website, offers more than 22,000 books which are out of copyright for free download. Users are invited to support the volunteers "and few employees" who create the electronic texts with a donation.

www.gutenberg.org

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