(Not to be confused with New Cult Awareness Network.) The Cult Awareness Network (CAN) was an organization created by deprogrammer Ted Patrick that provided information on groups that it considered to be cults, as well as support and referrals to deprogrammers.It was founded in the wake of the November 18, 1978 deaths of members of the group Peoples Temple and assassination of Congressman Leo J. Ryan in Jonestown, Guyana, and was shut down in 1996. Its name and assets were later bought by a group of private donors (some of whom were Scientologists) in a bankruptcy proceedings; with the transfer of ownership, the organization was renamed the New Cult Awareness Network.