HomeARC
The HomeARC ("ARC" presumably being abbreviated from "archive") was a software package which contained the vast majority of publications by The Family International. Its first release came sometime between 1995 and 1996, and for a number of years updated versions were released annually.
The software package was comprised of three CDs — one for installation, one for text, and a third for scanned images of illustrated and graphics-intensive publications. The HomeARC also served a number of other purposes including stripping Rich Text Format files of originator-identifying properties and assisting with PGP encryption tasks. However, the HomeARC did not work with any operating system newer than Microsoft Windows 98 (though by editing system files in could be made to work with Windows 2000), and was never updated to do so as by the time later versions of Windows were released much of the underlying code was more than a decade old and would have required nearly a ground-up rewrite. As a result, HomeARC publication updates were eventually discontinued.
The Family later distributed a more up to date but less comprehensive collection of publications with newer software called InfoStore, which was programmed by a member in Russia.
Both InfoStore and the HomeARC were never released in a non-sanitized form. All publications in them had undergone the various "pubs purges".
In 2005, The Family is believed to have made the full archive of the HomeARC's content available on their "Members Only" website at www.familymembers.com. The website is password protected and employs extensive security measures to protect its contents from outsiders. For example, downloads of Good News magazines are not directly possible from the website, but instead require the user to first log in with their Home's ID and password (which is changed on a regular basis, with password changes enforced whenever members move between homes or leave the group), then click a download link which will embed the publication with hidden Home-identifying properties, encrypt the publication with the Home's registered PGP key (which is also changed on a regular basis in some cases), then email the publication to the Home's registered email address, which typically is only accessible to a select group of the Home's members. Any discovery of publications online which still contain embedded Home-identifying properties will result in a Home undergoing a mandatory password change or having their access to the site revoked. Other security mechanisms are in place for other portions of the website.
