Hundreds of thousands of people have flooded the website for Free-PC.com to sign up for one of the first 10,000 computers - the Californian company said on Monday it would give away to people who are willing to share personal information and receive targeted advertisements.

The website was visited by an estimated 300,000 people within hours of the announcement, with nearly all of them filling out the online application for the fully-equipped PCs made by Compaq Computer, said Free-PC.com spokesman Mr Steve Chadima.

For every person who got through, there were untold others who tried in vain to connect to the website. Mr Chadima said the company is adding server capacity to its site "as fast as possible".

The demand demonstrates that many people are willing to exchange some of their privacy for a free computer. Free-PC.com founder Mr Bill Gross said the company needs to collect personal information from its customers - including what sites they visit on the Internet - so that it can make enough money from advertising revenues to recoup the cost of the computers and earn a profit.