Answer to 1) all the code was written by John-conner, though the peer coin code was definatly  referenced in building vnl code...

There are a few similarities with the code, similar to using lines like "once apon a time", or "in a land far far away# in a fantasy story But at this time with so many projects using those lines they could easily be considered public domain at this point...  everything that makes up the uniqueness of vnl has no references whatsoever. .

If you gave a good understanding of coding please respond negatively or positively to this post..  I am by no means an expert, though I have some understanding of coding.
If you haven't read the code or have no understanding learn and research before accusing.