MIT spin-out company Akamai Technologies Inc has announced that 20 high-profile web sites, including CNN, Infoseek, Go Network and About.com, have signed on as charter customers of the company’s Free Flow content delivery network. Free Flow is designed to improve web site performance and reliability, and is backed by a Proof of Performance guarantee. This guarantee promises faster access than the web site owner itself can deliver and 100% uptime. If Akamai fails to meet either of these standards, the customer doesn’t pay for the day in which the failure occurs. Other charter members Akamai has sweet-talked into joining the Free Flow network include: Furniture.com, Hard Rock Hotel, various companies from Bill Gross’s idealab, JCrew.com, The Motley Fool, the New York Times on the Web, Sportsline USA and Wrenchead.com.
