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`THE TOP 100 BBS_s IN THE u.s.
`1994 Boardwatch 160
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`MAHJORBBS ON
`THE INTERNET
`
`é New Internet
`_
`_
`_
`.- Connectivity Option
`.'Provides felnet/ftp
`-
`-
`4 to Mala’ BBS
`'
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`
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`Monte:-ey Gaming
`Sysfefns
`Mommy CA
`W09‘ 5555555
`
`5
`Blue Ridge
`Express
`Richmond VA
`
`W ’?’°'j""*"
`
`CIX-WE_ OWN
`: THE INTERNET
`
`Dramétic July Announcement -
`Pay Us $10,000 or Get Off the Highway
`
`_
`
`S495':US3-C»’«7'.|ADf«
`
`011oner 1crosot
`
`orporation, Ex. 1018, p. 1
`
`Petitioner Microsoft Corporation, Ex. 1018, p. 1
`
`

`
`You are the cybervisionary.
`
`You start with a brilliant idea ...
`
`You smoothly integrate multi-user
`applications as you need them ...
`
`You prototype your concept on a small
`scale quickly and inexpensively ...
`
`You have a vision. Bring your com(cid:173)
`pany online. Tie the workgroups to the
`customers. Distribute all kinds of infor(cid:173)
`mation and electronic media. Or maybe
`launch a new business in cyberspace.
`You need more than just a BBS -
`you want an open platform for creating
`your own online service. A system that
`is tailored to your mission. And nobody
`can do it better than you.
`
`Start Right the First Time
`The Major BBS<P Version 6.2 gives
`you everything you need to get started:
`e-mail, forums, polls, file libraries, QWK,
`teleconference, a user registry, and more.
`Right away, you can plug in one or two
`modems in a DOS-based 386 or better
`and go online.
`Customize your look and feel with
`the built-in Menu Tree"' and text block
`editor. Use Locks and Keys"' security for
`intuitive access control. Create unlimit(cid:173)
`ed user classes for accounting and
`system management.
`Enjoy auto-generated RIP graphics,
`MHS importing/ exporting, full multi(cid:173)
`lingual support, time analysis and user
`reports, CD-ROM utilities, remote Sysop
`management, "doors" to an auxiliary
`
`machine, an activity audit trail, auto(cid:173)
`cleanup and timed events -
`hundreds
`of special features designed to make
`your life as Sysop a success.
`But that's just the beginning ...
`
`Expand Your Horizons
`Next, you can integrate a wide array
`of add-on options. Installation is as easy
`as "A:INSTALL". The Major BBS takes
`full advantage of DLL technology to
`dynamically link these features into
`your system.
`For instance, Fax/Online lets you
`provide outgoing fax-mail and fax data(cid:173)
`base services to your users. Search and
`Retrieve gives you a full document data(cid:173)
`base, with support for graphics files and
`fax attachments. And Internet mail and
`newsgroups can pipe right in with the
`Major Gateway/Internet package.
`Other DLL extensions available from
`Galacticomm include Shopping Mall, The
`Major Database, Entertainment Collection,
`Dial-Out, and a special version of the
`RIPaint GUI design tool.
`Use the Menu Tree designer to place
`these new options in the most conve(cid:173)
`nient location. Full security control lets
`you decide which users will have access.
`
`And because these DLLs are written in C
`and Assembly, they provide far greater
`performance ana flexibility than script
`languages or xBASE derivatives.
`
`You Need It? You Got It ...
`Over 150 independent software ven(cid:173)
`dors offer a wealth of products you can
`cleanly add to your system as DLLs.
`Plug in software such as:
`• multimedia document servers
`• MLS photograph databases
`• credit card verifiers
`• FIDO, QWK, RIME mail support
`• online bidding networks
`• employment classifieds
`• 1-900 payment and tracking
`• interactive multiplayer games
`• worldwide "chat" networks
`• automatic call-back verifiers
`• contact management databases
`• alternate user languages
`• photograph dating services
`• online purchasing systems
`• satellite news delivery
`• remote management tools
`• and much, much more ...
`
`Each of these products integrates
`directly into your system, taking full
`advantage of our open architecture and
`
`Petitioner Microsoft Corporation, Ex. 1018, p. 2
`
`

`
`We just provide the tools.
`
`As you grow, you add more lines, hook
`up your LAN, connect to the Internet ...
`
`And you experience the success of
`your own, unique online service.
`
`1ii1ti-user environment. No other BBS
`atform gives you this power.
`"Doors" even let you interface to
`ient/server databases and other DOS
`>plications, as well as the programs
`ritten for multinode BBSes.
`'ith the Freedom to Grow
`As your system takes off, you can
`ld more lines without the headaches
`multitaskers or stacks of computers.
`mply add User Six-Pack licenses and
`>ok up more modems.
`
`ONLY THE MAJOR BBS GIVES YOU
`THE POWER TO SUPPORT OVER 100
`SIMULTANEOUS HIGH-SPEED USERS
`ON ONE PENTIUM-cLASS MACHINE.
`
`In performance tests reported by
`•ardwatch Magazine, The Major BBS
`mdled 104 simultaneous file transfers
`14.4 modem rates (1750 cps), and over
`at 28.8 modem speeds (3300 cps). In
`ost real world cases, even more simul(cid:173)
`neous users are possible.
`You can use multipart hardware
`ch as the GalactiBoard and GalactiBox
`easily manage huge numbers of inter-
`1 and external modems. (Galacticomm
`the only BBS manufacturer with multi-
`
`user hardware design experience.) The
`Major BBS also works smoothly with
`non-intelligent hardware by vendors
`such as DigiBoard and Boca Research.
`
`And Connectivity For All
`Only The Major BBS gives you the
`ability to support modems, serial con(cid:173)
`nections, IPX/SPX LAN channels, direct
`X.25 circuits, and TCP /IP sessions - all
`on one computer. Each channel group
`can have different menu branches and
`security controls, at your option.
`The Advanced LAN Option lets you
`create a bank of channels that will
`dynamically accept calls from computers
`around your office -
`directly through
`your Novell LAN.
`You can also provide national and
`international access at low cost via the
`X.25 Software Option and a PC XNet card
`-
`you avoid the inefficiencies and
`expense of a PAD.
`And our new Internet Connectivity
`Option lets you integrate a TCP /IP stack
`directly into your BBS. You don't need a
`separate machine to provide telnet in,
`telnet out, FrP client, and FrP server fea(cid:173)
`tures to your users. Anonymous FrP and
`Internet surcharges are also supported.
`
`A Bright Future Awaits You
`There are few limits to what you can
`accomplish with The Major BBS. The full
`C source code to the BBS is available, to
`give you the ultimate flexibility. Write
`your own add-on options, or tweak a
`particular function to your exact needs.
`And to address the needs of very
`high-end applications, Galacticomm has
`launched a UNIX technology division
`to provide The Major BBS platform for
`minicomputers to supercomputers.
`Integrated solutions, consulting,
`and custom development are available
`from Ambassador dealers worldwide.
`World-class support is available to you
`via voice, fax, BBS, CompuServe, and the
`Internet. A quarterly magazine called
`The Major News provides you tips and
`tricks, as well as a resource for third(cid:173)
`party products and services. And regular
`software improvements bring you the
`latest in online technology.
`For more information, give us a call
`at 1-800-328-1128 (or 305-583-5990 out(cid:173)
`side the U.S. and Canada). And let's turn
`your visions into reality.
`
`0GALACTICOMM
`
`Petitioner Microsoft Corporation, Ex. 1018, p. 3
`
`

`
`Petitioner Microsoft Corporation, Ex. 1018, p. 4
`
`

`
`Petitioner Microsoft Corporation, Ex. 1018, p. 5
`
`

`
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`Petitioner Microsoft Corporation, Ex. 1018, p. 6
`
`

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`
`Petitioner Microsoft Corporation, Ex. 1018, p. 7
`
`

`
`MUD WRESTLING ON THE
`INTERNET
`Connectivity is one of the strangest
`
`commodities on the planet. It
`exhibits some astounding properties.
`
`We think of intangible items that do
`have a significant value as generally
`unique. A one of a kind painting carries
`most of its value intangibly - the canvas,
`frame, and paint are not particularly
`valuable. But the painting is - often
`based on a combination of aesthetics,
`history, and authorship that make it
`unique. If you could make exact copies
`of it in ad infinitum numbers, it would
`not be nearly so valuable.
`
`Connectivity is an intangible, has signif(cid:173)
`icant value, but is reproducible simply
`by the act of connecting. It is a verb in a
`commodity world of nouns. This gives it
`several astounding properties that
`otherwise bright people really find
`consternating.
`
`First, the more of it you sell, the more
`of it you have in stock. If you connect 10
`people, you then have 10 people for the
`eleventh to connect to. If you connect
`100 people, you then have 100 people to
`connect the 101st to. Purchaser 101
`actually got a better deal than
`purchaser 11. But purchaser 11 had the
`value of what they bought go up by the
`act of connecting 101 as well.
`
`Which brings up the second astounding
`property. The more of it you have, the
`more valuable it becomes. Most
`commodities go DOWN in value based
`on supply and demand, scarcity and
`plentitude. Connectivity always works
`backwards. The more of it you HAVE in
`stock, the more valuable it becomes as a
`commodity.
`
`The third astounding property is the
`Loaves and Fishes Property of Connec(cid:173)
`tivity. If you sell ONE connection to
`anyone on the planet, they can likewise
`sell it to hundreds of others - at a lower
`price than you sold it to them. Which
`makes it a little hard to corner the
`market on, and despite some costs of
`doing business, you're basically selling
`air if ALL you sell is connectivity.
`
`Simple connectivity can be made flat, by
`offering one model, at a reasonable
`price. If you want to connect to MCI
`Mail, they basically have one model, one
`fairly reasonable price, and the result is
`
`they sell it widely but not deeply. It's a
`flat fanout.
`
`Internet connectivity is heirarchical by
`design. You can divide it down through
`a tree hierarchy until no one gets more
`than about 100 cps of connectivity, and
`it still more or less works. Packet on a
`tree.
`
`Most of this seems a little obvious. But
`we've currently got a crowd forming,
`resembling nothing so much as all the
`hounds of hell in a pre-adolescent
`phase, determined not only to sell air,
`but to own the entire market for it. And
`the number of players is growing like a
`crowd around an armored truck acci(cid:173)
`dent. IBM has announced the IBM
`Global Network. Sprint now has not
`only Sprint Link, but Global Link, MCI
`has announced little, they're just basi(cid:173)
`cally hiring everyone that can spell
`TCP/IP and get it right before the third
`try - with some vague arm waving about
`Q1/95. A vice president of MCI is going
`to IBM's global network. Steve Wolffe,
`head of the National Science Founda(cid:173)
`tion that funds the current backbone, is
`rumored to be going to work for MCI,
`which is further rumored to be buying
`SURAnet, which is not BARRnet
`because BARRnet was bought by BBN.
`Vint Cerf was the head of the Internet
`Society, but now he works for MCI. It's
`an Internet frenzy. Contracts aren't
`contracts, they're "cooperative agree(cid:173)
`ments" so it's all cool. The New York
`NAP is actually near Philadelphia, so
`the National Security Agency won't
`have to walk so far to listen in. What a
`con tree!
`
`In the debate about commercial use of
`the Internet and the nearly mythical
`Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) a few
`years ago, a group called CIX was
`formed - the Commercial Internet
`Exchange. It was formed to demon(cid:173)
`strate a commercial network, real
`enough to NOT be transparently myth(cid:173)
`ical, so that companies could connect to
`CIX members and so to the Internet,
`with some assurance that they weren't
`infringing the AUP. That their packets
`didn't ever transit the NSF backbone
`anyway is absurd. But it was a salutory
`nod/effort toward the AUP acceptable to
`almost everyone.
`
`The interesting thing CIX had going for
`it was it simplified interconnection
`issues because the heart of it was that
`all members would send/receive to all
`others without any settlement fees.
`
`Whichever way the traffic flowed and in
`whatever direction, nobody measured or
`charged each other for "carrying each
`other's traffic." This ended the other(cid:173)
`wise endless and insolvable debate as to
`whether my connectivity was larger
`than yours so YOU should pay ME to
`connect to me, or whether my
`connected people were more desireable
`to reach and so it should really be
`reversed. Members paid $10,000 each
`and were peers.
`
`Over the past two years, the number of
`people making the connection to the
`Internet has been phenomenal. And
`when you examine the startup costs to
`take your new found IP connectivity,
`sell it to 10 others, recoup your costs
`and the cost of your pipe to the net, it
`looks a lot like a license to print money
`and spend it before the ink's dry. So
`there's been an explosion of new
`"Internet Providers."
`
`A couple of the early pioneers in selling
`Internet connectivity were Rick Adams,
`of UUNET, and Marty Schoffstall of
`PSI. They railed to high heaven at the
`National Science Foundation spewing
`accusations of conspiracy, malfeasance,
`and high crimes over every jot and tittle
`of any NSF cooperative agreement that
`our government was selling out to IBM
`and it would shut them, the little guy,
`out from being able to sell this connec(cid:173)
`tivity. They won, and so were allowed
`to.
`
`Once in the club, their first official act
`was to try to be the last in, and shut off
`anyone else. PSI simply won't allow
`anyone to resell connections by
`contract. UUNET tacks on an addi(cid:173)
`tional $8000 per year charge to make
`them go away. Now that they were in,
`screw the little guys - they can get their
`own.
`
`And many regionals and service
`providers who did get into the game
`followed suit. Adding contractual
`clauses to all customer agreements
`limiting or forbidding in various clum(cid:173)
`sily worded ways of dubious legal
`heritage the ability of their customers
`to become their competition. The
`remarkable thing is that for some time
`this gravity defying strategy seemed to
`work and keep the whole thing in the
`air - however bizarre, inappropriate,
`unfair, and niggardly it all seemed. We
`usually refer to these as Dog in the
`Manger clauses. Generally these ISPs
`have done a poor job servicing demand
`
`8 Boardwatch - September 1994
`
`---.:====---------
`
`Petitioner Microsoft Corporation, Ex. 1018, p. 8
`
`

`
`for connectivity, but they won't let
`anyone else do it either.
`
`Into this really genteel little boys club
`rides U.S. Sprint with Sprint Link.
`Sprint basically hooks up anybody,
`anywhere, anytime for a fee, and they
`don't care what you do with it. You can
`bury your end in the ground, or use it to
`light up the pope at night. You can sell
`it, resell it, repackage it, or just assume
`someone else in your office is using it
`and put a plant in front of it.
`
`And the house of cards starts to tumble.
`The other Internet Services Providers
`didn't actually have a business, they
`had a wish for one. And if anyone said
`booger to the little contract clauses, it
`would be over. Sprint did. They would
`NOT be able to charge anyone $50,000
`per year for $400 worth of connectivity,
`and their little spreadsheets went all
`atremble. Mom and Pop POPS starting
`to pop up like mushrooms. The two
`hurt most were of course UUNET and
`PSI - with ridiculous pricing structures
`based on wishful thinking.
`
`In a meeting July 7-8, the CIX board
`made a bold move. They announced
`that everyone selling IP connections
`anywhere, right down to Joe's Discount
`SLIPs, would pay them $10,000 per
`year or be route/path "fl.ltered."
`
`Basically, this is the knife at the throat
`of the Internet baby. "If you don't all
`pay up, we cut its throat." A discon(cid:173)
`nected Internet makes no sense of
`course.
`
`The politics of this devolve to the
`comical. The CIX has about 59
`members, but the board numbers five.
`Rick Adams of UUNET, Marty Schoff(cid:173)
`stall of PSI, John Rugo of NEARnet,
`Bob Collet of Sprint, and Susan
`Estrada, who used to be with General
`Atomic's CERFnet. She appears to be a
`board member sans network at the
`moment and we understand she wasn't
`actually at the meeting. Sprint voted
`against so it was 4-1 for. Basically, the
`CIX announcement was Rick Adams
`and Marty Schoffstall, in a move
`designed to crown themselves Internet
`Tsars. It was cunningly timed to corre(cid:173)
`spond to the precise date when the
`NSFNet backbone is scheduled to be no
`more- November 1.
`
`As to whether they get away with it, we
`can't fmd anyone who can actually say.
`If you ask how anyone was able to
`install two Cisco 7000 routers in a
`WilTel POP in Santa Clara and gain a
`choke hold on the Internet, everyone
`
`will readily and instantly deny that it
`did, does, can, or is possible. The
`Internet is everywhere, and can survive
`nuclear holocaust actually of course.
`Fire or earthquake in San Francisco No
`problem. We'd never notice. On the
`other hand, if the mom and pop ISP's
`don't pay the $10,000 ransom, will they
`still have full connectivity to the
`Internet? The answer seems to vacillate
`around the negative in varying degrees.
`The possibility exists that Rick Adams
`and Marty Schoffstall own connectivity
`- for the mqment.
`
`The problem is of course the low riders.
`If you are trying to provide Internet
`services in Durango, Colorado, the
`installed base of humanoids does not
`suggest the $10,000 will be good for
`your health as a business. And if you
`are a little guy getting started, as
`Denninger did in Chicago with MCS at
`an initial investment of around $5000,
`
`you're basically shut out - IF the
`flltering is effective. And if no one calls
`the bluff.
`·
`
`On legal grounds the theory is bizarre
`but has a chance. It basically goes like
`this: If anyone has the money to call us
`on this one and sue us in court, or cause
`a ruckus on the restraint of trade
`issues, they probably have enough to
`not mind paying the $10,000 - which is
`cheaper, and then they're one of us
`anyway.
`
`On political grounds, it's even dicier.
`The remaining CIX members are in a
`terribly confusing position. If they don't
`support the move, and anyone can be an
`Internet Services Provider and be inter(cid:173)
`connected without paying the $10,000,
`
`why was it again that
`THEY had to pay the
`fee?
`
`If they do support
`the move,
`the
`requirements for
`forming an anti(cid:173)
`CIX seem to be
`two Cisco 7000
`routers and a good
`line of shit about
`how CIX tried to
`steal the Internet. In
`fact, there is some evidence
`that already from WITHIN
`the CIX membership there is talk of
`doing just that. Basically, the belief
`system in connectivity is strong enough,
`that if anyone throws down a brass ring
`in the Arizona dessert and talks four or
`five players into grabbing hold of it, the
`Internet just healed itself of Rick
`Adams and Marty Schoffstall, and it
`could take most of a week to accomplish
`it.
`
`Worse, everyone might just ignore it
`and we would find the path routing
`toothless in the real world. No one
`seems quite sure just WHAT the route
`is for most traffic. Might work, might
`not. That would effectively end CIX.
`
`So either of several ways, it was a risky
`move bordering on the foolhardy by
`Rick Adams and Marty Schoffstall. The
`one certain effect is that it will hope(cid:173)
`lessly alienate the "little guy." Their
`comments about hobbyists showed a
`profound ignorance of small ISPs, what
`CIX is, and what their position vis a vis
`the world really is. They are a hair's
`breadth from being stomped through
`the floor by IBM, Sprint, MCI, and most
`of the RBOCs, and their first official
`parry is to run off anyone smaller than
`UUNET and PSI and start fighting
`with them for quarters in the carpet.
`
`Adams and Schoffstall are basically
`using the tactic that has always worked
`- point at Sprint, IBM, MCI, and anyone
`else "big" and wave their arms and
`whisper concernedly that there is collu(cid:173)
`sion in government, conspiracies
`abound in the night, and that the giants
`will seize the Internet and - holy of
`holies - charge metered rates by the
`packet. We've listened carefully, and it
`is bullshit.
`
`Yes, half of the Sprint corporate struc(cid:173)
`ture lays awake nights trying to figure
`out how to charge by the packet. Like(cid:173)
`wise IBM, GElS, MCI, and anyone else
`in that industry with enough imagina(cid:173)
`tion to allow sugar plums to dance in
`
`Boardwatch - September 1994 9
`
`Petitioner Microsoft Corporation, Ex. 1018, p. 9
`
`

`
`" I .,
`~
`So one fmal thought - and a clue 'jf you
`will. A very disparate and unconnected
`group of people have been looking for a
`product for over 30 years that would
`work with a concept called "multi-level
`marketing." They've tried soap, they've
`tried motor oil, they've tried vitamins,
`they've tried cosmetics, they've tried
`stain removers, they've tried rubber
`kitchen goods. But they keep coming up
`against some astounding properties all
`these commodities share:
`
`L The more of it you sell, the leBB of it
`you have.
`J. The more of it that's available, the
`less valuable it is.
`8. It's very difficult to get your
`customers to sell it too.
`
`And finally, at any impressive rate of
`growth, these pyramid schemes would
`very rapidly involve the entire. popula(cid:173)
`tion after just a handful of levels.
`Everyone would have to want it.
`
`It just won't ever work .... at least with
`soap ....
`
`Jack Rickard
`Editor Rotundus
`
`P.S. It can be a lot of work to decipher
`what's what in the Internet. It's all
`based on who can cook up the best
`verbal analogies for things that barely
`exist in real time. Gordon Cook is a
`kind of Rona Barrett gadfly of the
`Internet, trading in gossip, insider
`information, innuendo, off-the-records,
`and the occasional factoid dug from the
`bowels of the Washington Beltway. He's
`been doing it long enough now he's
`getting pretty good at it. But he does do
`a printed newsletter titled "The COOK
`Report on Internet -> NREN" on a
`monthly basis. Everyone at MCI,
`Sprint, BARRnet, BBN, IBM, ANS, PSI,
`UUNET, deride it mercilessly each
`month as so much National Enquirer
`yellow journalism, and then anxiously
`await next month's issue to club it to
`death again. If you need to be in the
`know on what's happening in the big
`boys club, you might want to cough for
`a subscription. Companies like these
`pay $500 for the pain, individuals who
`talk nice to Gordon can get it for $85
`per year. We feature his latest missive
`offering a perhaps more balanced view
`of the CIX announcement. Reach him at
`cookOpath.net.
`
`their heads. But getting there appears
`nearly enough impossible. For Sprint to
`gain any customers at all right now,
`they have to play the existing game - a
`moqthly fee for acceSB. If MCI wants in,
`th . y have to compete with Sprint. If
`anyone "experiments" with measured
`service, they would instantly lose
`market share to another msjor player -
`or even a minor one. Hell, most
`Internet users don't even KNOW what
`their usage is.
`
`And it is competitive. Last year, the
`three largest advertise~s on national
`network television were AT&T, MCI,
`and Sprint. It is very likely that within
`the next year, all 7 RBOC will be
`allowed to sell long distance service -
`and Internet acceBB as well. PACBELL
`and Ameritech are actually designated
`NAPS already by the National Science
`Foundation. You can do voice over the
`Internet. We think it is going to break
`into such a catfight, that not only will
`Internet acceBB be modeled about like it
`is now (cheaper but same model), we'll
`go so far as to predict in print some(cid:173)
`thing we said first in 1988, National
`Local Calling area. Within five years,
`you will be able to have telephone
`service at some flat monthly fee, to dial
`anywhere in the U.S. as a local call. I
`understand the suits in these corpora(cid:173)
`tions don't want that, but it looks like
`another gravity defying feat to avoid it.
`I'll go further. I think they'll all make
`MORE money than they do now when it
`happens. I'll go further yet. I think it
`will be the biggest stimulus to the
`REST of our economy our nation has
`ever seen without a war. And all seven
`RBOC, and th'e top 10 long distance
`companies, will all have to work nights
`to keep up with it.
`
`Yes, I know about the studies. Wipe
`with them. There are natural rythms to
`economics and human behavior and you
`can only hold things in the air in defi(cid:173)
`ance of gravity so long - even by passing
`laws requiring the emperors clothes to
`be acknowledged as clothes. It costs no
`more to switch a call across Denver
`than it does to Washington D.C. Nada.
`We are accustomed to toll charges from
`a historical sense, and it has been
`preserved in a regulated legal environ(cid:173)
`ment. It will take an act of Congress to
`avoid prosperity in the future based on
`telecommunications alone.
`
`As to little Ricky and little Marty - I
`don't know whether to admire the guts
`or pity the intellects at work here.
`Either way, there but for the grace of
`God ...
`
`The meeting of the full CIX member(cid:173)
`ship at Interop September 14th should
`be a tremendous amount of good clean
`fun with free coke for the kids. I under(cid:173)
`stand you can reach the membership at
`cix-members@cix.org (I just love this
`Internet stuff). They might note that
`the two Internet Service Providers with
`the greatest number of alternate non(cid:173)
`CIX interconnections to other nets in
`the U.S. appears to be (drum roll- and
`the surprise) UUNET and PSI. They'll
`never let you do this to THEM.
`l
`..
`Probable outcome? Divide the baby in
`half. Lower and more flexible rates for
`smaller ISPs - recast it as routing
`services fee, and take on more of a trade
`association/lobbying mission. Or they
`could throw UUNET and PSI into the
`street. Or start an antiCIX. Or bless it
`and hope they get away with it.
`
`If the redundant duo pull this off, we
`look forward to a coronation ceremony.
`And the $10,000 will be just the first
`shot. If they sell this, they can dictate
`every e-mail message on the Internet
`from here on out with the same
`"filtering" threat. I don't want the
`government to have that power. I don't
`want Sprint to have it. And I certainly
`don't want Little Ricky and Little
`·Marty to have it. But it could happen.
`None of these people even know what
`the Fight-0-Net wars were. It's all new
`to them.
`
`This may all be terribly intriguing, but
`what is disappointing is the total lack of
`vision that once again rears its myopic,
`if largely ugly head. These people think
`they have built a network, and are
`fighting over who gets to pick up the
`quarters out of the carpet. For the past
`18 months, virtually every print publi(cid:173)
`cation, all television networks, cable tv,
`and down to billboards and bus benches
`have been touting the Internet. There
`are over 20 million people with modems
`with but a handful having ever seen it.
`Bill Gates (not THE Bill Gates - but the
`Microsoft Guy) is about to hand at least
`10 million more of them a Windows
`with TCP/IP and PPP. They all want it .
`or think they do. Picture 30 million 18
`months from now.
`
`Most ISPs are struggling under the load
`NOW. For all of you who can count past
`the ten wigglies on the end of your arm,
`note that this is NOT going to work.
`The only way it even has a chance, is if
`they go out and RECRUIT bulletin
`boards and commercial online services
`to do the necessary fanout. Not shut
`them out - recruit them.
`
`1 0 Boardwatch - September
`
`-
`
`-:-z:
`
`x ' "' • n.u "'
`
`Petitioner Microsoft Corporation, Ex. 1018, p. 10
`
`

`
`~~~~~~~~~~~~~~--:o:n~li:n::e~(:Vl:.a~g:o:p~h:e:-:r and WWW) after the
`issue has been out for a couple of
`B
`d
`th
`months. Any chance of oar wac
`doing the same? Need help doing it?
`
`-·
`
`® II
`Ul~~.4
`
`Letters to the .lditor
`Boar4watah llaguia.
`8500 W Bowles Ave Saite 210
`Littleton Co 80123
`
`Address correspondence ·to Letters to
`the Editor, Boardwatch Magazine,
`8500 West Bowles Ave., Suite 210,
`Littleton, CO 80123; by fax to
`(303)973·373~ or by e-mail
`to
`letters@ boardwatch.com.
`
`Jack,
`
`I like Boardwatch. Quite a bit in fact.
`I have one itty bitty problem ... This is a
`problem that seems to plague maga(cid:173)
`zine publishers ... Snail mail obliterated
`my m.agazine ... Oh, to be sure, it was in
`a form that was readable when it got
`to m,e (bm:ely) and it was only folded in
`3 or 4 ways but I'm one of those people
`who collect the magazines they read.
`And this was definetly not in a collec(cid:173)
`table condition. I'd gladly pay an extra
`$.20 per issue to get it sent in some
`type of paper or plastic cover (yeah, i
`can hear the environmentalists
`hollering FOUL - FOUL - FOUL
`already but hey, i want my magazines
`in good condition).
`
`On another note, Boardwatch is a
`great magazine for those that are
`running a BBS and for those that are
`surfing the net. How about a few
`suggestions or pointers to some excel(cid:173)
`lent communications software for
`dialing into the net or a BBS. I've just
`switched to a PC recently (due to the
`death of Commodore) and I haven't
`been able to fmd a good comm package
`yet. I'm looking for one with scripting,
`phonebook, fast scrolling, windows
`support, multiple terminal emulations
`as well as multiple protocol support,
`and anything else that power users
`like in a comm package. If you have
`reviewed these in a prior issue, how
`about a new review or a pointer to the
`mag that contained it?
`
`Dunno if you have read a magazine
`called Wired but it puts the magazine
`
`Thanks for listening,
`
`Geoffrey@crl.com
`Purple Duck Software
`
`Ge