Note on the Infamous IBECC Conspiracy!!! There is an organization in Colorado which appears to be trying to gain a de facto monopoly on bbs lists, bbs nets, and bbs conferences! And not through legal means necessarily either! They call themselves IBECC, "International BBSing and Electronic Communications Conference", charging sysops a fee of over $100 for attendance at an annual Denver-area conference. The prospect of substantial moneys generated by this conference are their incentive for monopolistic and anti-competitive tactics, especially against hobby-type boards who are easy to scare with unwinnable pseudo-lawsuit threats and other underhanded tactics. One of their biggest scams is trying to copyright the phone numbers of BBSes in Colorado! Following is a facsimile of a letter sent without warning by the IBECC's lawyers to Big Boy with regard to this bbs list. Reminiscent of a gang of punks, it threatens to sue if we didn't quit publishing this list which competes with theirs! Notice how it doesn't allege copyright, or produce a copyright registration, this is because phone lists can't be copyrighted! And, without a copyright registration, even if they were to win in court, they cannot win attorney's fees like they claim! And the damages they could claim would be ZERO since their bbs list has NO PRICE, it is given away free! The lawsuit threat letter is reprinted below so that others who try to publish a bbs list or use this list as a source will know they might receive a similar letter from them! Later someone claiming to be IBECC Vice Pres. Terry L. Travis called Big Boy's and left an upload containing a list of "IBECC Affiliate BBSs", which from now on will be marked on Big Boy's BBS List. Later he hacked (gained access to, without permission, at the same time denying Big Boy access to the IBECC BBS) Big Boy's computer and uploaded a text file in which he claims that IBECC is above the law, that, e.g., it knowingly (without any immunity granted by law enforcement officials) inserts false bbs listings as "ringeres" (sic) to trap other bbs list publishers and sue them! Also, that if an "IBECC affiliate" BBS goes down and any other list fails to take them off soon enough to please them, that they will sue on their behalf for imagined damages because somebody might call them up with a modem! (At the same time their list claims immunity from damages resulting from its use.) Also, that if anyone criticizes or insults them on their bbs, or calls for a boycott of their business, and it results in customers who learn the truth about them, deciding to cancel contracts with them, that they will sue for $10,000 a day for libel! (At the same time they sponsor an echo across several boards criticizing whomever they want, even capturing and stealing without permission posts from Big Boy's BBS.) Not only that, but they claim they invented and have copyrighted the format of bbs lists, such as the codes F,G,M,N and so on as abbreviations for the words File, Games, Messages, and Nets, etc.! There are also as-yet-unproven -- but believable -- stories of sysops being threatened, bullied, or cut off from the Fidonet which they are suspected of controlling in Colorado, for getting in their way! This outfit is apparently asking for an anti-trust lawsuit and Big Boy advises you to be wary if IBECC and its so-called affiliates from now on! Big Boy has been harassed continually by IBECC and its agents ever since he began the innocent task of publishing a bbs list, on a lark because IBECC refused without reason, after Big Boy asked to list his little ole bbs Nyuk Nyuk! Call Big Boy's BBS anytime and see for yourself a string of posts by somebody representing himself as Terry Travis, full of overt and veiled threats, revelations of calling Big Boy's BBS looking for things to use to shut it down, doing personal background checks on Big Boy and users of his BBS, publicizing personal information about Big Boy that was given to IBECC board sysops in confidence, and taunting Big Boy to file charges against him! And this organization filed for non-profit corporate status with the state of Colorado Nyuk Nyuk! By the way, if any sysop decides to become UNaffiliated with IBECC, please post me so I can update this list! Their tactics speak for themselves, their claim of "proprietary ownership rights" is legal GARBAGE and if they had any, their voluntary publication of their list gave the data in the list to the public domain notwithstanding their claim of copyright on the data, which is unenforceable because data, and phone numbers at that, are not copyrightable. (If they had kept their data secret they could have provided it under a license to customers in return for a pledge of keeping it secret Nyuk Nyuk!) The "look and feel" is also a non-issue since there are only so many ways to list this kind of data in plain English, in other words, their format is OBVIOUS, and therefore can't be copyrighted! How about STANDARDIZING a format once-for-all? Don't expect them to do it, work with Big Boy instead Nyuk Nyuk! And when did any "IBECC Affiliate" BBS sysop give them any ownership rights to data on their BBS in the first place -- or legally could? If any IBECC agents harass you, or have done so using any kind of tactics you can document in the past, such as calling a sysop and trying to pressure them into kicking Big Boy and/or his list off their board, please post Big Boy about it immediately with documentation! Big Boy advises a boycott on IBECC's business activities, they are a threat to free bbsing in Colorado (no Nyuk Nyuk!). YES! -- you can leave information in confidence, Big Boy won't divulge your identity without your permission. If any other persons attempt to harass you over my, your, or any other BBS phone list, and "claim a copyright on the phone book", report them to the phone company and the appropriate authorities Nyuk Nyuk! -------------------------------- ----------------- ------------- MILLER, MAKAI & DOWDLE ATTORNEYS AND COUNSELORS AT LAW DENNIS M. MILLER 2325 WEST 72ND AVENUE ALEXANDER J. MAKKAI, JR. DENVER, COLORADO 80221 PATRICK D. DOWDLE (303) 427-7584 RANDALL C. ARP (303) 428-7460 FAX (303) 427-7999 June 24, 1992 (Big Boy) (address deleted) Wheatridge, CO 80034 RE: IBECC Denver Area BBS List Dear (Big Boy), Please be advised that I have been contacted by my client, IBECC with respect to your unauthorized use and publication of their Denver Area BBS List. To date we are aware that you improperly published this list in your Elegant Alternative Advertising. The purpose of this letter is to demand that you immediately cease and desist from any further unauthorized use of their proprietary ownership rights to the Denver Area BBS List. Contact me as soon as possible to advise me of your position with respect to this matter. Please be assured that if any further improper use or publication of the list is undertaken by you or any of your agents that litigation will be commenced without further notice. In the event of such litigation we will seek to recover from you all damages as allowed by law, including litigation costs and attorney's fees. Sincerely, Patrick D. Dowdle PDD/sio cc:IBECC .end