Volume 4, Number 3 19 January 1987 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | /|oo \ | | - FidoNews - (_| /_) | | _`@/_ \ _ | | International | | \ \\ | | FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) | | Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Editor in Chief: Thom Henderson Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings FidoNews is the official newsletter of the International FidoNet Association, and is published weekly by SEAdog Leader, node 1/1. You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission standards are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from node 1/1. Copyright (C) 1987, by the International FidoNet Association. All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances, please contact IFNA. Table of Contents 1. ARTICLES What ever happened to real BBSes? International Informatics Access Conference Announcment Shareware Vendor Abuse - Last in an Irregular Series 2. NOTICES The Interrupt Stack Bylaws Vote in Progress Fidonews Page 2 19 Jan 1987 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= What ever happened to real bulletin-board systems? First off, I'd like to make it perfectly clear that I cannot be objective in these notes. These are observations, but they are from 1) a Sysop 2) a user of 8BBS, the greatest BBS ever evolved 3) a boy ... who's become a boyish programmer 4) an old timer....1977 was when I first started using BBS systems. 5) the author of a BBS system If you're expecting objectivity, then don't bother reading on. I have a rather unique perspective on the entire BBS scene. I've been around since close to the beginning, and I'm wondering what has happened. Have BBS's gone the way of CB? Is the entire system in a slump? Is there anything wrong at all? I'm going to try to present these questions and show how things have changed...for the better, and for the worst. HISTORY: A long time ago, in a city far-far away, two men had an insight. Ward Christensen and Randy Suess wanted a way to leave notes and messages to their programmer/engineer friends. Back then, modems were used by field-engineers and some high-level executives to talk to their companies computers. A 300 baud modem was extremely fast, as most people were using 110 baud TeleTypes. Ward and Randy devloped the concept of the BBS. They called it CBBS, for "Computer Bulletin Board System." CBBS was the first of its kind. It was an enormous program written in 8080 assmebly language. By our standards today, it was kludgy and bug-ridden, but back then it was heavenly. Users could enter messages and read messages... that was about it. CBBS was a wonderful concept, but it was localized to the Chicago area. Ward and Randy were the only ones who were running the program. Then Bill Blue came along and wrote ABBS, which was designed to "emulate" the CBBS system. I feel it was ABBS, rather than CBBS which made the real breakthrough. While ABBS was much less powerful, and more difficult to use, it could be run on a "universal" machine: --The Apple ][-- Anyone with an Apple ][ and a D.C. Hayes MM][ modem could run ABBS. This program could be installed in a matter of minutes, and anyone could have their own bulletin board system. Soon after the release of ABBS, several other BBS programs (for various computers) soon followed. ABBS was the king for many years, just because there were more ABBS systems than any other BBS program available. Fidonews Page 3 19 Jan 1987 It is this time that I would like to refer to as the "Golden age of the BBS." It wasn't as golden as you might think. Most Sysops would come home every evening from work to find that their BBS had crashed because of yet another bug. Even back then, user's logged in under false names and left obscene messages. The one point that made that age golden was the users. Without users, a BBS is just a program. With users, it gains a personality, and if I may be metaphysical, a soul. The users MAKE the BBS. A Sysop may have the greatest BBS program in the world, but without active users, he just has a computer wasting line-current. LIFE IN THE "GOLDEN AGE" A user would think nothing of spending his Saturday helping "The Sysop" find an intermittant bug in the BBS program. A user would not only answer his or HER mail, but also butt into other people's conversations and throw in his/her two cents worth. A user would suggest improvements to make the system easier to use. A Sysop would care for his BBS like a baby. He'd spend 2 hours each night writing messages and playing with modifications to the program. A Sysop would NOT restrict conversation to one particular topic...such as CP/M software. A Sysop would tolerate kids who were just learning how to use modems. He'd even give them a hand getting things working. A Sysop would [on his own preference] dilligently weed out obscene or "pseudo-illegal" messages, -- or -- promote them as he saw fit. Users would start clubs, such as the well known "Gabber Gang" and later the infamous "Phone Phriekers" who figured so prominently into BBS history. The government didn't try to restrict BBS users. It was just "us" against tyranny (at that time "Ma Bell"). Although most users did not approve of "Phone Phrieking", everyone talked about it, and was interested in it for curiosity sake if nothing else. [Hard to believe, but true.] Uploading and downloading of programs did not exist. BBS's were few and far between. When I wrote the OxGate, the two closest other CP/M based machines were Kelly Smith in Simi Valley (375 miles away), and "Jim C" in Larkspur (100 miles away). People tended to congregate on the local system. Fidonews Page 4 19 Jan 1987 WHAT HAS KILLED BBS SYSTEMS: 1) Program uploading and downloading. People just get their programs and leave. 2) The technical clique's retaliation against "gabbers" who just used the systems for personal communication. 3) Too many BBS systems in one area. BBS's are still alive and healthy in low-density areas. 4) The loss of "anonimity" among BBS users. The BBS used to be the place to escape. Where no one had to be "themselves." Users such as "James Bond" and "Captain Scarlet" were given free reign to vent their fantasies. Today, most systems do not allow false names so they can keep track of users. 5) The anti-hacker movement. More and more people today think the word "hacker" means "phone phriek/computer crasher." All it ever meant was "great programmer." You would feel proud if someone labeled you a "hacker." 6) The press' ignorance of the BBS community. By trying to make a scandal out of all of it, they ruined a great form of communication. In particular, the magazine "InfoWorld" has done more harm to the BBS community than other press organization. While they actively TRIED to HELP the community, they have caused more harm in their mis-reporting of info. 7) Sysop's ignorance. Quite frankly, the average quality of "Sysop" has dropped. Sysop's are (on the whole) less active and less responsive than 5 years ago. More and more of them are technically incompetent, they couldn't fix a bug if it bit them in the nose. All of these problems are inter-related. We can't solve any of them until all of them are solved. From my descriptions it should be obvious that the "golden age" certainly wasn't all gold. People like "James Bond" and "Sam Daniels" had to be stopped, but the pendulum has swung too far to the opposite side. These observations are very general. I've noticed this swing, and it has taken place on 95% of all of the system's I've called across America. It's sad that these problems have stabbed us in the back, but it's not too late to try and bring about a change. I don't have the answers, but maybe these observations will prompt thought into this death of a virtual "art form" of communication. There is one possible solution to this problem... the acceptance of children again. For too long we've been kicking off kids (both phyiscal and "kids at heart"). They've been disruptive, Fidonews Page 5 19 Jan 1987 and caused fights galore. Many have even tried to crash the systems they used. "If there's any hope, it lies with the proles." -- George Orwell, _1984_ Perhaps the thing to do is call a few local Commodore and Apple boards and let the users know that they're just as welcome on your super-fancy 100mb 2400 baud RCP/M system as any of your so- called "serious users" . . . "serious users" who can't even bring themselves to answer their own mail. Saddening. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 6 19 Jan 1987 INTERNATIONAL INFORMATICS ACCESS '87 MARCH 17-20, 1987 DALLAS, TEXAS USA IIA '87 - MARCH CONFERENCE OVERVIEW =================================== Many of us feel the need for more dialogue and cooperation which can lead to enlightened policies regulating and promoting the management of information. Many also feel it important to look more carefully at existing practical applications of computer and communications technologies particularly for the developing world. Toward both of these ends, a series of international conferences on information access is being planned. The first conference of its kind -- INTERNATIONAL INFORMATICS ACCESS '87 (IIA '87)-- is scheduled to be held in Dallas in March 1987. This event, its preparation and follow-up, will provide a forum for policymakers, technical staff and those applying informatics to exchange ideas and develop plans of action. Preceding and following the conference the participants will be accessible to each other via an international electronic network. WHAT IS INTERNATIONAL INFORMATICS ACCESS '87? IIA '87 is the first in a series of biennial conferences on the role of international information exchange in developing countries. In keeping with the focus on developing countries: * The Keynote speaker for each conference will be from a developing country whose address will highlight that country for the development of informatics * All future conferences will be held in Third World countries * Fifty percent of the conference delegates will be from developing countries WHAT IS THE FORMAT OF IIA '87? The Planning Council will request leading international informatics and communications organizations or individuals for nominations of participants in the following areas: Policy Technical Network/User These delegates will be selected based on criteria approved by the Planning Council and based on the degree of activity and knowledge in the field of informatics. It is expected that fifty Fidonews Page 7 19 Jan 1987 percent of the delegates will come from Third World countries. In addition, Resource Participants will be invited as conference observers. They will be able to attend all conference activities, but will have limited participation roles in the roundtable sessions. A monthly Conference Newsletter will begin publication in August 1986, and will be mailed without charge to individuals or organizations who have asked to be on the conference mailing list. This publication will keep all interested parties apprised of the activities in preparation for the conference as well as provide relevant information on developments in the field of informatics. All delegates selected will have an electronic mailbox on an international communications network. The fee for each mailbox will be paid for by the conference for three months prior to and six months after the conference. This service is provided in order that the delegates be in a position to maintain the link formed and continue the discussions initiated at the conference and themselves form a new international network. There will be four principal addresses during the conference. The addresses will focus on the current issues in the areas of:policy, technical and network applications in informatics. Each will a focus on the integration of traditional and emerging technologies. The keynote speaker will address the issues of the potential for informatics in the context of international development and understanding and how this technology can be used for the betterment of society. Each presentation will be followed by delegate roundtables to discuss the address as well as to bring pertinent information from personal experiences. A conference Resource Guide guide is being developed to maximize the contributions of the IIA '87 delegates to the conference. This guide will be published as a special edition to an international journal and distributed to delegates one month prior to their arrival. The Planning Council will also publish a Conference Proceedings. This will include the speakers' texts, and comments from the roundtable discussions and will serve as a point of reference for organizations and individuals interested in developing multinational electronic linkages. This publication, like the Resource Guide, will be published by as a special edition of an international journal. WHAT ARE THE OBJECTIVES OF IIA '87? * To prepare and disseminate a comprehensive guide of the current activities of groups involved in the promotion and exchange of informatics skills/technologies for development purposes. * To initiate intense discussion on the relation of informatics to development and the policy, technical, and Fidonews Page 8 19 Jan 1987 programmatic issues in this field. * To develop a "roadmap" for organizations interested in exchange of informatics skills/technology for development, in order to expand and initiate priorities for such cooperation. WHAT TYPES OF DELEGATES WILL BE INVITED TO IIA '87? IIA '87 will have four types of participants: Policy Delegates (12) - Individuals involved in the senior level decision-making process with regard to informatics in developing countries Technical Delegates (12) - Individuals who have expertise and a knowledge of the technical systems deployed to meet informatics needs Networker Delegates (26) - Individuals who are now using informatics within their work environments. Resource Participants (15) - Individuals selected from major international organizations who can serve as a resource of information on policy/technical and network/user issues. Resource Participants will be able to attend all conference activities, but will have limited participation roles in the roundtable sessions. Important Delegate Selection Deadlines November 30, 1986 Completed Delegate Nomination Forms Due December 31, 1986 IIA '87 Delegate Selection Committee Invites Delegates WHERE WILL IIA '87 BE HELD? Baylor University Medical Center has a state-of-the-art conference center located on the 17th floor of the new A. Webb Roberts Hospital. This center has a large reception foyer, an auditorium that seats 155, a large banquet room that seats 150, several small dining rooms, three classrooms and the Boone Powell, Sr. Management Library. Staff of the A. Webb Roberts Center for Continuing Medical Education will be available for facilitating the conference. In addition, volunteers from local microcomputer users groups or people with an interest in telecommunications will be available to assist in hosting the conference. WHAT IS THE OFFICIAL CONFERENCE LANGUAGE? English is the official conference language. The Plaza of the Americas does have a multi-multilingual staff available and will be able to assist with hotel needs and Dallas sites and Fidonews Page 9 19 Jan 1987 attraction information. WHERE WILL IIA '87 PARTICIPANTS STAY IN DALLAS? The Plaza of the Americas combines restaurants, shops and office towers in the heart of downtown Dallas. The prime business and entertainment districts and the new Dallas Museum of Fine Arts are a brief stroll away. Trusthouse Forte, one of Europe's grandest hotelier, operates the 442-room hotel. A multilingual staff, foreign currency exchange, and telegram/cable/telex services are a few of the amenities provided by the Plaza of the Americas. The hotel's Plaza Suite will serve as the conference Hospitality Suite throughout the conference. WHAT ARE THE COSTS TO THE IIA '87 DELEGATE? All on-site conference costs will be provided by the conference. No registration fee will be charged. Meals (with the exception of Friday evening), transfers (with the exception of the return to the airport), and conference materials, etc. will be provided by the conference. Conference participants will be responsible for travel and hotel accomodation payments. Tower Travel Agency will work with the delegates in coordinating these arrangements and will be able to offer conference discounts. In order to offer these discounts, all travel and hotel arrangements must be handled by Tower Travel using the conference hotel and airlines. The conference has a very competent agent assigned and she will have an EMAIL box on ECONET. WHERE WILL IIA '87 EMAIL BE CHECKED ON A DAILY BASIS? SERVICE ID ----------------------------------------------------------------- WHOLE EARTH LECTRONIC LINK [WELL] hmg [Harry Goodman] UUCP hplabs!well!hmg ARPA well!hmg@LLL-CRG.ARPA This meeting is for you! Baylor University Medical Center has been involved in developing an electronic network linking several medical research centers in Latin America with the Latin American Cancer Research Information Program sponsored by the Pan American Health Organization. Issues encountered in the development of this electronic application are the same issues facing each of us as our networks develop. The exchange of ideas between individual participants at IIA '87 will allow each of us to return to our respective countries and organizations with ideas and concepts which we did not bring to the assembly. Fidonews Page 10 19 Jan 1987 We would be delighted to have you join us and we invite you to participate in IIA '87 by returning the Nomination Form. * THE FORM MUST BE RETURNED TO US BY NOVEMBER 30, 1986 * Additional information may be obtained by writing to: INTERNATIONAL INFORMATICS ACCESS '87 c/o Baylor Research Foundation 3500 Gaston Avenue Dallas, Texas, U.S.A. or Harry Goodman Harry M. Goodman & Associates 1739 Bridgeway, Suite A Sausalito, California, U.S.A. UUCP: {apple,hplabs,lll-crg,ptsfa}!well!hmg ARPA: well!hmg@LLL-CRG.ARPA MCIMAIL: HGOODMAN BIX: harryg CIS: 72267,2572 WELL: hmg Nominations are due by November 30, 1986. Sincerely, The IIA '87 Planning Council ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 11 19 Jan 1987 Shareware Vendors: Last in an Irregular Series of Articles by Mark J. Welch [Preface: three earlier articles detailed my problems (and other Shareware authors') with various Shareware copyright and distribution concerns. As in the past, I will briefly repeat some portions of the earlier articles for the benefit of those who might not have seen them.] Tying up loose ends: First, I'd like to correct an error in an article I wrote a few months ago. At that time, I thought that I had not provided PC- SIG with a copy of my program (the Generic Adventure Game System), nor with permission for them to distribute it, and at that time PC-SIG had indicated that this was a possibility. In fact, my records show that I did provide PC-SIG with a copy of GAGS very early on, and though I did not give them formal permission to distribute it at that time, I don't believe they acted in bad faith when they began distributing the program thereafter. I'd like to apologize to PC-SIG for this error. Second, I'd like to invent a term: program-disk vendor. Firms like PC-SIG, Public Brand Software, and the like, all sell Shareware and public domain software programs on floppy disks. Since no "generic" term has been established to refer to the growing legions of such vendors, I'll call them "program-disk vendors" in this article. I'm not going to take a position as to whether or not the category of "program-disk vendors" should include non-profit users' groups. Next, I'd like to update my dispute with PC-SIG. After we exchanged several letters and phone calls, we finally sat down and discussed the matter last October, and decided at that time that the ideal disposition would be for PC-SIG to write a letter clarifying its policies and acknowledging its awareness of the fact that Shareware authors have expressed concerns over some of its activities. As I stated then, my goal in obtaining such a letter is to prevent PC-SIG from later claiming to some other Shareware author that he was the first to voice a complaint. At that meeting, Mr. Petersen also provided me with a partial copy of a revised version of the letter he is now sending to competitors whom he believes are violating his firm's property rights, and this revised version does not make the broad or general claims that were in the earlier letters. In essence, PC-SIG and I have agreed to be nice to each other, and PC-SIG has stated (as clearly as they believe they can) what their policies will be. My understanding is that they intend to use reasonable efforts to determine that they are properly Fidonews Page 12 19 Jan 1987 distributing authors' works, and will shortly contact the authors of programs in their library to let them know what PC-SIG is doing. In exchange for PC-SIG's letter, I've agreed not to pursue any legal claims against the firm for what I believe was improper distribution of my program on CD-ROM. Rather than paraphrase PC-SIG, however, I'll simply provide a complete copy of the letter I received from Richard Petersen, president and owner of PC-SIG: Dear Mr. Welch: I am writing this letter to you to clarify for you how we interact with authors. I am taking the time to do this because I believe you when you say that you are only intereted in seeing that PC-SIG and organizations like ourselves in the business of distributing user-supported programs behave in a way which is not contradictory to a program author's interests. PC-SIG does not claim to own copyrights to the programs in its library. Each author of a Shareware program retains copyright ownership, but has granted PC-SIG a non-exclusive right to distribute the program. Authors of Public Domain programs have abandoned all claims to those programs, and the programs are not copyrighted. PC-SIG does not pay authors any fee or royalty for the distribution of the author's programs. What we do do and will continue to do is strongly encourage donations to authors of programs. We recognize that it is through the efforts of shareware authors that we have been able to create PC-SIG. It is our hope and belief that we have also had a beneficial effect toward legitimizing the shareware concept and increasing the revenue received by program authors. PC-SIG's policy is to distribute Shareware and User- Supported programs with permission of the author. PC-SIG presently checks disks being added to the PC-SIG library to make sure that we have received permission directly from the program author. If not, we attempt to contact the author directly for permission to distribute their program. PC-SIG does not claim trademark rights to the names of the programs in its library. PC-SIG has the non-exclusive right to use the name to identify the author's work if it is included in the PC-SIG library. PC-SIG also claims copyright ownership of its printed catalogs and newsletters, of its catalog disks, and of custom written text files or programs included in the disks distributed by it. PC-SIG claims to own copyright to the overall collection of disks, as assembled, and to the numbering system used to identify the disks. Fidonews Page 13 19 Jan 1987 We apologize for the impression you got from our September 1986 Newsletter that the typical Shareware author earned over $40,000 per year per program. This figure is very misleading. It was based on a very small sample of the more successful authors which is not necessarily representative of what the majority of shareware authors receive. It should be remembered that a few authors have done very well, earning well into the millions. As part of our new directory project we are sending out a mailing to all program authors (which we have addresses for) confirming our new directory listing for disks which they are on and asking for any updates they may have both for the new directory and our next release of the PC-SIG Library on CD ROM. We plan to do periodic mailings of this type in the future. We welcome suggestions from program authors about how we can better serve them. As part of my understanding with you, you have agreed to distribute an apology to PC-SIG for accusing us of taking your program without your permission. We expect that you will distribute this through all of the same channels you distributed your original accusations. Sincerely, Richard Petersen [letter reproduced with permission] [the rest of the article is by Mark Welch] As I stated in my earlier articles, my concerns have been to make Shareware authors aware of the problems being created by vendors who distribute Shareware, and the response has been quite varied. First, I was surprised (but shouldn't have been) to learn that many authors make a substantial portion of their income through distribution of their programs by PC-SIG, with one authors claiming that more than half of the payments he receives are based on purchases from PC-SIG. On the flip side, one author was inspired by my article to contact PC-SIG and for the first time discovered that his utility programs were being distributed by the firm. I was not surprised at the negative (anti-PC-SIG) opinions that came my way, since I was aware of earlier problems that Shareware authors and others have had with PC-SIG. At one point, a fellow called me to encourage me to start an aggressive publicity campaign against PC-SIG in the popular press. I didn't do that, and don't believe that such a move is appropriate, because I don't believe that what PC-SIG has done, for the most part, has been substantially against the interests of Shareware authors. As I stated to Mr. Petersen, I believe that PC-SIG has made a substantial contribution to the success of Fidonews Page 14 19 Jan 1987 user-supported software, and I believe that if PC-SIG were driven out of business, the Shareware business would suffer as a result. I believe that PC-SIG has made a strong effort to convince me that they have the best interests of Shareware authors in mind, and that they do not wish to harm Shareware authors in any way. This does not reduce my belief that PC-SIG has taken several actions that have harmed Shareware authors, the worst of which were its intimidation of its competitors (innocent and illegal alike), its unauthorized distribution of programs on CD-ROM, and its reckless comments about the "average" profits of a Shareware author. As the oldest and best-established of program-disk vendors, PC- SIG has a duty to aggressively study each disk in its library to make sure that it can properly distribute the programs on it. I'd like to suggest some guidelines that I believe PC-SIG and other program-disk vendors should evaluate and, ideally, implement: - Each vendor must carefully study the "Shareware rules" (actually a license to distribute) included on the disk with each Shareware program, to make sure that its distribution of the program is legal. Each author has slightly different conditions, and it is (and ought to be) the program-disk vendor's duty to make sure that he is not violating U.S. and international copyright laws by improperly distributing the work. When a program-disk vendor desires to distribute a program using a method not explicitly invited by the author (such as CD-ROM), it should obtain written permission before doing so. - Even where the "Shareware rules" or license terms allow program-disk vendors to distribute a program without written permission, the vendor should notify the author that the program is being distributed by the vendor. This enables the author to provide update notices (including lurking-bug fixes) and to promptly assert any complaints if the author believes the vendor's distribution is improper. - Program-disk vendors should bear the cost of obtaining updates to disks, at least by providing a disk and return mailer when programs are updated. Certainly, when a program is updated once a week, a program-disk vendor is justified in updating its library less frequently, and the vendor also cannot be expected to provide updates if the author doesn't notify the vendor. - Program disk vendors should be especially vigilant against improperly including illegal or dangerous programs in their libraries. Like any BBS sysop, a program-disk vendor should recognize obvious "trojan horse" programs whose main function is to wipe out a hard disk. Likewise, the vendor should recognize that a cleanly-polished commercial-quality Fidonews Page 15 19 Jan 1987 program with a name like "Zaxxon" or "Program Shift" isn't really public domain, but is actually a pirated and hacked program. Program-disk vendors, like BBS sysops, should refuse to distribute complex programs if they don't contain valid author-contact information. - Program-disk vendors also have a duty to make sure that they are distributing complete and (reasonably) current programs. A program without needed documentation, or a program that works only with DOS 1.1, should be clearly marked as such or removed from the vendor's catalog. - While vendors can't be expected to test every possible configuration and use of a program, no program-disk vendor should ever distribute a program that simply doesn't work on *any* hardware configuration. - Every program-disk vendor should be aware of copyright, trademark, and unfair-competition laws in the juridictions it sells in. Vendors should expect that any violations of these laws will result in lawsuits by shareware authors or competitors, with possible penalties of up to $50,000 per program illegally distributed. - Every program-disk vendor should make a reasonable effort to encourage its customers to register Shareware (User- Supported) programs. Any vendor who actively or recklessly discourages such contributions should expect prompt and aggressive responses from both authors and consumers. The above guidelines also put some duties on authors, who already have a number of responsibilities: - Program authors should provide clear, precise rules for distribution of copyrighted programs. Where possible, authors should not choose terms or rules that are radically different from other Shareware authors' terms, and ideally Shareware authors should develop similar terms. - Authors must provide reasonably prompt notice of upgrades (to vendors and registered users alike). - Authors who do not plan to update the program, or who decide to switch from Shareware to another distribution channel, should let vendors (and registered users) know of those plans. - Authors should be aware of copyright, trademark, and unfair competition laws in the jurisdictions their programs are distributed in, and should take the proper steps to protect their works by registering them. Shareware authors should be careful to properly identify their programs' status to avoid having the works fall into the public domain, and should particularly check to make sure that their programs Fidonews Page 16 19 Jan 1987 and documentation do not identify the work as being "public domain." - Authors should also be aggressive in notifying vendors of improper distribution of their programs, and taking legal action (alone or together with other authors) to stop willful continued violations by program-disk vendors. Where possible, authors should also advise other authors of improper activities that affect them. Sometime in February, I will cease to be a bona-fide Shareware author, because, like many other authors, I am releasing the next version of my software as a commercial program, rather than as Shareware. I will, of course, notify registered users and vendors. I will allow program-disk vendors to continue to distribute earlier versions of GAGS, and registered users will have a very generous upgrade path. [Last-minute note 1-7-87: version 2.00, the "international" version, is now ready. I'll post a note in FidoNews when the manual is rewritten and printed (it won't be available on disk). The Mac version should also be available within a few months.] Despite my escape from the immediate Shareware market, I still believe that Shareware authors should stick together and keep in touch with each other. While I don't believe any "trade organization" or tightly- organized group is necessary, I do believe that Shareware authors should share whatever resources they do have, including good and bad experiences, written policies, legal advice, and mailing lists where appropriate. If a program-disk vendor, online service or end-user should violate a number of authors' rights through the same actions, the affected authors should band together to defend their rights using whatever means are available. Another goal for Shareware authors might be some sort of unified numbering system for Shareware and public-domain programs. I had believed that PC-SIG's numbering system was available for other firms to use until it began sending its nasty nine-page letters to its competitors last year; until then, its catalog (available at one time even through bookstores) provided a useful arrangement of disks. Now that PC-SIG has asserted its ownership of that numbering system, I hope that a group of authors or some enterprising individual creates a Library-of-Congress style numbering system for the available program-disks, with a cross- index indicating what alternate sources those programs are available from (for example, providing a cross-reference into the PC-SIG numbering system, just as auto parts vendors provide tables of compatible parts). Such a catalog system should enable new vendors to enter the market more easily, reducing the prices of Shareware and public domain program-disks, and thus increasing the availability of the programs. Fidonews Page 17 19 Jan 1987 ---- Last, but not least, I'd like to provide a list of the people whom I've contacted (and been contacted by) since I wrote the first Shareware-abuse article in FidoNews last year. While I currently don't plan any further activities or articles regarding this issue, I hope my exit from the Shareware market won't end the discussions I've sparked. The following people and organizations haven't asked to be included in this article, and as a result I'll try not to get anyone in trouble but will still try to make connections possible. 1) Richard Petersen Thomas Caudill owner/president Attorney-at-Law PC-SIG (Personal Computer (PC-SIG's attorney) Software Interest Group) 1025 North Fourth St. 1030D East Duane Ave. San Jose, CA 95112 Sunnyvale, CA 94086 (408) 298-4844 (408) 730-9291 PC-SIG's letters threatening its competitors with massive lawsuits, and its distribution of my program on CD-ROM, were the two sparks that led me to address the issue at all. In addition to Petersen and Caudill, I've been in touch with Tom Yarr (VP/Marketing) and Tom Smith, who is in charge of contacting authors and verifying that new programs are OK to add to the PC-SIG library. 2) National Public Domain Software Rental Co. & PJS Company Paul Jones 1533 Avohill Drive Vista, CA 92084 (619) 749-0322 PC-SIG filed an unfair-competition lawsuit against this firm (docket number 605640, filed in Santa Clara Superior Court on June 24, 1986). I have a multiple-generation copy of a letter from Jones, stating that the firm has gone out of business because of the legal action, and referring its customers to the Public Domain Software Interest Group in Nevada (see 4, below). 3) Harold Babylon Software Club 4811 Myrtle Avenue Sacramento, CA 95841 (916) 334-2161 Software Club was the first program-disk vendor to notify me that it had received PC-SIG's nine-page letter threatening a Fidonews Page 18 19 Jan 1987 lawsuit. As a result of the letter, Software Club asked for a confirmation of my previously-given permission to distribute GAGS, since PC-SIG's letter seemed to claim exclusive rights to programs in its library. 4) Public Domain Software Interest Group (PD SIG Inc.) 2400 S. Santa Rita Dr. Las Vegas, NV 89104 (702) 732-0169 Other than the reference by Mr. Jones (see 2, above), I know nothing about this firm. I called and received PD-SIG's catalog, which offers titles from the PC-Blue and other disk libraries. (See also 8, below.) 5) Pink Panther Data Systems Richard E. Andrew P.O. Box 271098 Escondido, CA 92027-0732 (619) 741-7779 (voice) (619) 941-8680 (BBS) I bumped into this program-disk vendor at two computer shows in Silicon Valley, and discovered that it took more than one request to convince Mr. Andrew that I was serious about my repeated insistance that for-profit program-disk vendors must obtain writtern permission to distribute GAGS. He elected not to request my permission, and thus the firm may not distribute GAGS. 6) U.S. Soft Club a division of Bi-Tech Enterprises, Inc. Thomas E. Vande-Stouwe, director of software selection 10 Carlough Road Bohemia, NY 11716-2996 (516) 567-8155 (voice) (800) 645-1165 (outside NY) CompuServe: 70007,1767 MCI Mail: BiTech BBS: 516-567-8267 (24 hours) In November, I received an interesting letter from Mr. Vande- Stouwe, and spoke with him on the phone for nearly an hour (burning my "Budget Gourmet" frozen dinner to a crisp). His firm plans to offer some very interesting (and tempting) benefits to Shareware authors who elect to have U.S. Soft Club distribute their programs, but apparently the exact terms are confidential, so I'll not repeat them here. However, I'd like to encourage Shareware authors to give him a call and look over his proposal; I chose not to participate, but I'm sure others will think differently. Fidonews Page 19 19 Jan 1987 7) Public Domain Software Copying Company Don Johnson 33 Gold St., Suite 13 New York, NY 10038 (212) 732-2565 800-221-7372 This program-disk vendor sells disks from the PC-Blue library. Mr. Johnson also received a letter from PC-SIG threatening his firm with a lawsuit unless he altered his business' operation. 8) PDSSIG, Public Domain Software Special Interest Group (formerly PD-SIG, Public Domain Software Interest Group) full name: Robert Allen Plimley 3515 San Felipe Road San Jose, CA 94135 (408) 270-4085 (BBS) also, Bob Allen 3124 Pan Mure Court San Jose, CA 95135 This one gets confusing. I don't even remember whether he called me or I called him first. PC-SIG sent Mr. Plimley a letter [to "Bob Allen" and "John Lawrence"] asking that the firm's BBS cease using the name PD-SIG because it was confusingly similar to PC-SIG's name. Mr. Plimley advised me that he does not sell disks individually, but runs a BBS from which callers may download programs and also sells the programs on disks, mostly in large sets to other sysops. He said he received the letter from PC-SIG after he registered the name PD-SIG, and planned to fight PC-SIG's claims until he learned that another firm was already using the name PD-SIG (see 4, above). Some other people interested in Shareware and the issues addressed in my earlier articles, along with a number of program- disk vendors, are listed below, in the same random order they appear in my notes: ----- More program-disk vendors: Domain::Generics The Public Domain Exchange P.O. Box 4408 2074C Walsh Ave., Dept. 75 Stanford, CA 94305 Santa Clara, CA 95050 (408) 496-0624 Ron Chadwick Orders: (800) 331-8125 Fun-Ware 15735 Camino Del Cerro Shareware Express Los Gatos, CA 95030 31877 Del Obispo, Suite 101 (408) 358-2353 San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675 (714) 240-1322 Dynacomp Inc. Fidonews Page 20 19 Jan 1987 1064 Gravel Road Public Brand Software Webster, NY 14580 P.O. Box 51315 (800) 828-6772 Indianapolis, IN 46251 (716) 671-6160 (317) 856-1001 (716) 671-6167 (800) IBM-DISK [800-426-3475] MicroCom Systems P.C. Soft Share P.O. Box 51657 Mike Bowers Palo Alto, CA 94303 24365 San Fernando Rd. #154 (415) 325-6500 Newhall, CA 91321 (805) 255-7072 The Public (software) Library, Nelson Ford, P.O. Box 35705, Houston, TX 77235-5705, (713) 721-6104, (713) 721-5205 (latter number for orders only). (This is apparently a separate enterprise run by Diskcat author Nelson Ford, who is also connected in some way with the Houston Area League of PC Users (HAL-PC).) The firm issues a monthly newsletter commenting on many of the programs in the library and providing some news of interest. HAL-PC will sponsor a convention for PD and Shareware authors on February 21, 1987 in Houston. BBS Mailorder Software, P.O.Box 17868-B001, Irvine, CA 92713- 7868. (Their catalog-request form, which I picked up at a swap meet 1/3/87, says "BBS now carries the complete PC-SIG and PC- Blue libraries," and "BBS has been recently acquired by Caltech Institute, a non-profit organization.") Computer Bin, 371 Wilkerson St., Suite H, Perris, CA 92370, (714) 657-7821. (I just discovered [January 3] that this firm was selling GAGS without permission at a Swap Meet; they agreed to pull the disk until they request and receive permission to distribute it.) ----- Ted Lester, P.O. Box 8404, Santa Cruz, CA 95061. (Mr. Lester apparently called me and asked for information about my dispute with PC-SIG. My notes are sketchy, so I'm not exactly sure what interest he had in the matter.) ----- James P. Morgan, 5226 Via Hacienda #115, Orlando, FL 32809, (305) 859-5658 (Mr. Morgan is a Shareware author.) ----- San Francisco PC Users Group 3145 Geary Blvd., Suite 155 San Francisco, CA 94118 Charlie Vella, Software Librarian, 415-387-2315 Phillip Jacka, Software Library Editor, 415-648-1012 Fidonews Page 21 19 Jan 1987 ----- Sacramento PC Users Group P.O. Box 685 Citrus Heights, CA 95610 (916) 332-1944 Tony Barcellos, software librarian and editor, SacraBlue (newsletter), 916-756-4866 ----- TRS Nybblers "MS-DOS TRS CP/M Users" 25555 Hesperian Blvd. Chabot College, Hayward, CA 94545 (This user group exhibits regularly at many swap meets and computer shows in Silicon Valley). ----- THE AUTHOR: Mark J. Welch P.O. Box 2409 San Francisco, CA 94126 (415) 841-8759 (voice, Berkeley) Fido 161/459 [SEAdog, private node] BIX: 'mwelch' (Author of the Generic Adventure Game System, formerly available as Shareware; formerly an editor at BYTE magazine and reporter for InfoWorld; now a freelance writer, contract programmer, and law student in Berkeley, California.) [This article may be reproduced and distributed in any publication of a non-profit organization, and may be re-posted on online services and electronic bulletin boards. If possible, please send the author a copy of any newsletters that include this article. Thanks. -mjw] ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 22 19 Jan 1987 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 17 May 1987 Metro-Fire Fido's Second Birthday BlowOut and Floppy Disk Throwing Tournament! All Fido Sysops and Families Invited! Contact Christopher Baker at 135/14 for more information. 24 Aug 1989 Voyager 2 passes Neptune. If you have something which you would like to see on this calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1/1. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The CPA is now tallying the votes on the IFNA bylaws. With any luck, we hope to have a final tally in time for next week's edition of FidoNews. -----------------------------------------------------------------