When you're traipsing through endless corporate-image home pages, it's hard to remember that the folks who invented the Web wanted a tool to foster collaboration and community. Now a pair of free Web services, Third Voice and Gooey, are trying to restore that spirit to the medium. But the Web seems to be resisting this re-direction-in fact, these services have caused an uproar.

It doesn't take long to understand the controversy raised by Redwood City, Calif.-based Third Voice. Users of the company's software can treat the Web like a giant graffiti board. When they visit any site, they can post messages that appear to every visitor to the page using Third Voice. Some have taken to Third Voice like a graffiti artist to spray paint, and high-profile pages like Microsoft.com have become particularly easy targets.