Danny Panzer is coming clean in exchange for what he hopes will be a ticket to fame - and ultimately fortune - from publicity in as many as 350 newspapers around the globe.
Panzer - a Wharton and Engineering senior - is the once-anonymous creator of ClassBuster, a computer program that allows Penn InTouch users to know exactly when a space is available in a filled class.
After provoking University officials to send out a mass e-mail last month to the student body warning them not to use the program, ClassBuster ignited enough controversy to turn heads 100 miles north of Penn's campus.
Bloomberg News reporter Jim O'Neill contacted Panzer shortly after The Daily Pennsylvanian wrote about the technology and expressed interest in writing a feature story about ClassBuster.
"It seemed like a fun and interesting story," said O'Neill, who likened ClassBuster to Facebook.com on a smaller scale.
Panzer said he decided to give up his name in order to secure the Bloomberg interview.
"I thought that publicity [from Bloomberg] could help in all sorts of unexpected ways," Panzer said.
O'Neill will be coming from New York into Philadelphia today to interview Panzer for Bloomberg News, which provides stories for over 350 newspapers, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
As the site has gained notoriety - as of last night, it has received 217 hits - Panzer has gotten a myriad of potentially lucrative business proposals and words of encouragement, but one suggestion in particular urged him to go public.
Operations and Information Management professor James Carpenter e-mailed Panzer - whom he has taught in the past - suggesting that he disclose his name and go forward with the Bloomberg interview.
But before consenting to O'Neill's story idea, Panzer decided to extend an olive branch to the University.
In an effort to address outstanding concerns, he e-mailed University information-security officer David Millar on Monday night and offered to talk about the program.
He said Millar had not yet responded to his e-mail as of last night.
Millar has publicly stated concerns with ClassBuster's potential "disruption to the registration process."
But even if Panzer's 15 minutes of fame run out, University officials see no reason to punish him.
"I don't suspect he's doing anything wrong," Millar said.
Likewise, the University Registrar's Office, which has received heightened criticisms in recent weeks about the current registration system, is in no rush to penalize Panzer.
Registrar officer Ron Sanders said he does not believe ClassBuster will have a negative impact on the current registration system.
"ClassBuster was just a wake-up call that we may need to move [improving Penn InTouch] up higher in our work queue," Sanders said.
But whether Panzer's admittedly risky identity disclosure will be worthwhile - or punishment-free - is yet to be determined.
Ed Rentezelas, from the Office of Student Conduct, would not say whether anyone, faculty or student, has made a complaint regarding Panzer's technology.
