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


