Internet
In 1996 De Brouwer was one of the founders of PING (EUnet spin-off), the commercial company that came out of the European Unix Users Group (EUUG), which was acquired by Qwest Communications International (NYSE: Q). In 2000 Qwest became the third long-distance carrier in the US and the KPNQwest backbone was carrying more than 50% of European IP traffic. In 1999, Jobscape, De Brouwer's electronic employment site, merged with eight similar sites to make up Stepstone (STP.NO) before going public on both the London Stock Exchange and the Oslo Bors. The sequel to Stepstone, Pajamanation, the global site that empowered micropreneurs to work from home, filed for bankruptcy after 9 years in 2010.