> - why was freenode being sold in the first place? > - for what was it sold? For money? And who was paid for the sale? > - Why was a volunteer-run IRC networ

> - why was freenode being sold in the first place? > - for what was it sold? For money? And who was paid for the sale? > - Why was a volunteer-run IRC network even registered as a business which could be sold? It was to organize and sponsor a live conference ("Freenode #live"). The contract is not public, and not even (now former) freenode staff knows the terms. See the first two paragraphs here: https://gist.github.com/edk0/478fb4351bc3ba458288d6878032669d https://gist.github.com/edk0/478fb4351bc3ba458288d6878032669... > - Did whatever freenode was sold for go back to support the IRC-network? Or did someone weasel it away for themselves? It was mainly to support the conference, so this was a success. It's unknown if any other money was exchange. > - why would anyone buy and IRC network? What did they expect to gain by owning the network? There is a tentative explanation in the OP, but we may never know the actual reasons unless we are Andrew Lee himself.