ST Report: 30-Apr-93 #918

From: Bruce D. Nelson (aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 05/01/93-02:02:12 PM Z


From: aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bruce D. Nelson)
Subject: ST Report: 30-Apr-93 #918
Date: Sat May  1 14:02:12 1993



            *---== STReport International Online Magazine ==---*
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                   "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine"
                                    from
                               STR Publishing 
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 April 30, 1993                                                     No.9.18
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> 04/30/93 STR 918    "The Original * Independent * Online Magazine!"
  """"""""""""""""
     - The Editor's Desk      - CPU Report        - PORTFOLIO NEWS
     - VGA Pinouts            - PowerPC Intro'ed  - Apple Revenues UP! 
     - Intel sues AMD         - CTFEST'93         - Compatible Formats
     - Blue Ridge Fest'93     - ACER in WALMART!  - STR Confidential

                       -* IAAD REPORTS ON PIRATES! *-
                   -* ATARI EXPLORER CONFUSION CLEARED? *-
               -* "FALCONWAIT" The USERBASE WAITS & WAITS! *-


 ===========================================================================
                   STReport International Online Magazine
                The Original * Independent * Online Magazine
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      Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information
              Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports
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      COMPUSERVE WILL PRESENT $15.00 WORTH OF COMPLIMENTARY ONLINE TIME

                             to the Readers of;
                                       
                   ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE
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                  WHAT'S NEW IN THE ATARI FORUMS (April 30)

SPEED OF LIGHT GIF VIEWER!

Download  file  SPOFLT.LZH  from LIBRARY  14  of  the  Atari  Arts Forum  (GO
ATARIARTS) for  a new  Speed-of-Light .GIF  file viewer.   Shows all  colors,
squash the  picture to  fit the  screen or  just scroll  it, adjust  flicker,
color quality/levels, etc.

NEW PRINTER DRIVER FOR DESKJET

Download PrintAll  Version 1.1  (file PRTALL.LZH  in LIBRARY  9 of the  Atari
Productivity Forum  -- GO  ATARIPRO).  A  Printer driver  program for the  HP
Deskjet  500   and  500C.   Prints  multiple   file  formats   in  color   or
black-and-white in  multiple sizes  and  orientations.   Latest version  adds
Prism Paint PNT support, Tiny low and   medium-res .TNY and Sun Microsystems'
"Rasterfile" .RAS  support.  Also numerous bug-fixes and speedups, ability to
cancel without  quitting and cancel long operations.  This version supercedes
PrintAll 1.0.

New "CMYK" output options simulates Deskjet 550C output on 500C printers!

SHAREWARE FROM DOUBLE CLICK IN ATARIVEN

Double Click  Software has decided  to release DC  Xtract Plus as  SHAREWARE!
Included in  the LZH file are  DC Xtract Plus 2.v  and a doc  file.  Download
file XTRPLS.LZH from LIBRARY 13 of the Atari Vendors Forum (GO ATARIVEN).

Double Click Software has also decided  to release DC SEA as SHAREWARE!  Make
ARC/LZH/ZIP/ZOO into a  self-extracting file.   Download file DCSEA.LZH  from
LIBRARY 13 of the Atari Vendors Forum (GO ATARIVEN).

MANY NEW FILES IN ATARIPRO!

Lots  of new  files  in the  Libraries of  the  Atari Productivity  Forum (GO
ATARIPRO).  Type BRO LIB:ALL to check out the most recently entries!!

REVISED PRINTER DRIVERS FROM SOFTLOGIK

SoftLogik has  made  the  following two  files  available for  download  from
LIBRARY 11 of the Atari Vendors Forum (GO ATARIVEN):

PS2299.ARC - PostScript  printer driver for ImageSetters and Color PostScript
printers  version 2.2.99.   This  is a temporary  driver that  fixes problems
with v2.2.11 printing to Linos and Color PS printers.

PS2211.ARC -  Newest PostScript printer driver version 2.2.11. This driver is
good   for users printing to PostScript lasers. For users needing to print to
Color PS and high-rez imagesetters, you should use the v2.2.99 driver.


                   THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM ON COMPUSERVE
                           HAS BEEN DESIGNATED AN
                 OFFICIAL SUPPORT SITE BY ATARI CORPORATION

             "GO APORTFOLIO TO ACCESS THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM"

         "ENJOY CIS' ATARI FORUMS WHERE CENSORSHIP IS A DIRTY WORD!"


"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""



> From the Editor's Desk             "Saying it like it is!"
  """"""""""""""""""""""


     Its  the  last  week  in  April... still  no  Falcons  for  retail sales
anywhere. So what  else is  new?  All  we can substantiate  is less than  ten
accredited,  full  blown, ADA  "signed  sealed  and sworn-in"  Atari  dealers
nation-wide have received their  "DEMO" falcons.  One  dealer, who must,  for
obvious  reasons  remain anonymous,  called and  mentioned;  "There is  an ID
number  on  the label  under the  machine but  it  does not  say its  class B
certified.   It  does say  the  falcon is  class B  certified  in the  manual
though, he added".   However, due to  the continued grievous lateness  of the
arrival  of falcons  for  retail  sale,  there  is  plenty  of  double  talk,
sidetracking of topics  and sidestepping going on in the  userbase.  Maybe...
it was just  me but I could've sworn I  was told the HAD 150  falcons on hand
that were destined to be dealer  demos and while they touting that fact, they
jumped  up hollering a  "new" shipment  had just  hit the docks,  was passing
through customs  and would be  going through their  QC checks to  shipping by
mid-May.  Now it  doesn't take a rocket scientist to deduce  that they should
have well  over 150  falcons available.   They  don't and  they don't  expect
another  shipment to  arrive until  late May!    This magical  number of  150
falcons is  apparently getting worn out by  the masters of disinformation and
doublespeak.  There  are STILL no  Falcons available for  retail sale.   Only
"dealer Demos".  This  business of "Demos  Only - Not  For Sale" is going  to
get old in a hurry.

     As the frustration levels  increase even further, the users  are getting
quite testy relative  to most anything mentioned that's  not to their liking.
What's sad  about the whole affair is to find  those in the userbase "playing
up to" this situation  and taking unfair advantage of the  emotional state of
the userbase.  Be advised, those  who are engaged in this nefarious  practice
will pay a terrible  price to the users  once all the  smoke has cleared  and
believe me, clear it will.

     On to a brighter moment, it was rather surprising to find  that STReport
and STReport's popular online  conference were used as an  information source
in the composition  of a  piracy report compiled  and released  by the  IAAD.
The report  itself was very  well written, highly informative  and the topics
covered in the report were indeed enlightening.   As with any report of  this
nature,  there are  bound to  be those  individuals  whose "handles"  and BBS
names are drawn into  the picture who feel they don't  belong there.  Believe
me  if such is the  case there is no  reason to make a stink  over it.  After
all, you  know you did  nothing wrong and  have nothing to  hide.   Make loud
noises  and you'll sure  live up  to the  old Shakespearean  expression about
"protesting too  much".   Again the  report was  very well  written and  gave
every indication that  great care was taken in its  preparation.  Read it and
learn from it.
     
     To  all our  readers,  thank you  very  much for  your continued  strong
support in the face  of the onslaught of the "beast of  disinformation".  You
have no  idea  how  much  I  appreciate  your  supportive  Email,  and  great
suggestions.  To  those who  have been sending  in the  verifiable faxes  you
have been a great  help!  If we all  stick together, maybe just maybe we  can
turn the beast around and help it become productive once again.
  
                              Thank you for your strong support!
   
                                             Ralph....


   """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""



 STReport's Staff                      DEDICATED TO SERVING YOU!
 """"""""""""""""

                             Publisher - Editor
                             """"""""""""""""""
                              Ralph F. Mariano


          PC DIVISION         AMIGA DIVISION           MAC DIVISION
          -----------         --------------           ------------
          Roger D. Stevens    Robert Glover            R. ALBRITTON


 STReport Staff Editors:
 """""""""""""""""""""""
          Dana P. Jacobson    Michael Arthur           John Deegan
          Lucien Oppler       Brad Martin              Judith Hamner
          John Szczepanik     Dan Stidham              Joseph Mirando
                    Steve Spivey        Doyle C. Helms

                      Lloyd E. Pulley, Editor Emeritus

 Contributing Correspondents:
 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""
          Michael Lee         Richard Covert           Scott Birch
          Brian Converse      Oliver Steinmeier        Tim Holt
          Andrew Learner      Norman Boucher           Harry Steele
          Clemens Chin        Neil Bradley             Eric Jerue
          Ron Deal            Robert Dean              Ed Westhusing
          James Nolan         Vernon W. Smith          Bruno Puglia



                              IMPORTANT NOTICE
                              """"""""""""""""
       Please, submit letters to the editor, articles, reviews, etc...
                               via E-Mail to:

                    Compuserve.................... 70007,4454
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                       STR'S "BELIEVE IT?  OR.. WHAT?"
                     <>###############################<>

                 "There is no comparison!  The Atari Falcon
                    is far superior to the PC platform."


                                                  Sam Tramiel, 08/92

About the scathing Forbes Magazine Critique of Atari;

     "My new  office, which has  a better  view than my  old one,  is so  far
     quite  satisfactory.   And  Richard Miller  is in  my  old office.   The
     Forbes article was  a mish-mash and  misconstrued article  full of  half
     truths.  We  are anxiously awaiting the  release of the Atari  Falcon to
     bring us back to the forefront.  The article has given us some 
laughs, but otherwise has not affected us."

                                                  Sam Tramiel, 08/92

About marketing plans and the future....

     "As  I  said  before,  all  marketing  announcements  will  be  made  at
     Duesseldorf.  I will not comment on future models of the Falcon.

                  WE ARE TALKING TODAY ABOUT A MACHINE.....
                     WHICH WILL BE SHIPPING NEXT WEEK."


                                                  Sam Tramiel, 08/92

A fantastic observation, considering the date it was made...

     "I've just returned from Asia, where I saw the first Atari Falcon
     production coming off the lines.  Let's hope this new offering will
     make it in North America.  I know that the specs are great."


                                                  Sam Tramiel, 08/92

Again, the dates of the statement conflict with the facts now known....

     "We have  not yet even given  the machine to the  FCC.  And  we are only
     applying for Class  B approval.  According  to our "experts", it  should
     pass Class B."

                                                  Sam Tramiel, 08/92


             "......  We are not working for Wall Street but to
         make money for our shareholders and only think long term."


                                                  Sam Tramiel, 11/92

psssst.
              FYI.... The Shareholder's equity is fine.... NOT!

                     The Stock is hovering around $0.81 

                     CHRISTMAS '92 has COME and GONE...
AS HAS...

                       JANUARY 1993, FEBRUARY 1993...

                           FALCONS    ....anyone?

                  By the Way.... Does the Falcon work well
                                    with
             any... of the SLM Laser Printers??  NOPE!  NOT YET!

                         Wanna bet there won't be any?  

Better yet... 

              Which _MAJOR_ US Software Developers & Publishers
                                     are
                producing NEW Software for Atari's FALCON???

                Besides, who _needs_ a CARTRIDGE PORT anyhow!

          For the record... the cart port will be removed on future
       revisions of the Falcon.  That is, IF there is a future Falcon!




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> CPU STATUS REPORT                 LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS 
  """""""""""""""""
 

 
                 Computer Products Update - CPU Report
                 ------------------------   ----------
                Weekly Happenings in the Computer World
 
                               Issue #16
 
                            By: John Deegan
 
 
 
                 Computer Products Update - CPU Report
                 ------------------------   ----------
                Weekly Happenings in the Computer World
 
                               Issue #18
 
                            By: John Deegan
 
 
   MOTOROLA ROLLS OUT NEW CHIP - Motorola Inc. has introduced the first 
versions of its new PowerPC chip, the MPC601, which is being touted as a 
major challenge to Intel Corp.'s new Pentium processor.
 
   Reports are that Motorola, which is developing the PowerPC with IBM 
and Apple Computer Inc., will ship two versions of the 601 with speeds 
of 50MHz and 66MHz.
 
   Sources say the slower chip will sell for $280 each when sold in lots 
of 20,000, while the faster chip is priced at $374 each.
 
   Intel has not yet disclosed the price for its Pentium, which it began 
shipping last month, but analysts have projected that the microprocessor 
will carry a price tag of about $1,000 each. Both chips are roughly equ-
ivalent in terms of performance and are twice as fast as Intel's top-end 
486i chip.
 
   Motorola says the 601 chip has 2.8 million transistors, or about 10% 
fewer than the Pentium, in a space of about 11 millimeters by 11 
millimeters per side. It said high-volume production will begin in the 
third quarter.
 
 
   ACER SIGNS WALMART DEAL - Acer America Corp. has signed an agreement 
under which the 1,400 WalMart Stores across the country will carry Acer 
ACROS PC desktops. Acer said WalMart began searching last year for a new 
PC line to complement its 1993 PC desktop offerings from IBM and Packard 
Bell.
 
   WalMart will carry the ACROS 486SX/25 Models 4125 and 4130 and the 
ACROS 486DX/33 Model 4335.
 
 
   APPLE SEES EARNINGS, REVENUES GROWTH - Apple Computer Inc. Chief Fin-
ancial Officer Joseph Graziano believes the company should post earnings 
and revenue growth in the second half of the year due to strong demand.
 
   According to Graziano, revenue will accelerate from the 15% growth 
recorded in the 1993 fiscal second quarter ended in March. Earnings will 
also increase, he said, but did not give a specific estimate.
 
   Graziano also said sales will be helped by the introduction of a 
range of new products.
 
 
   ROHM, RAMTRON TO DEVELOP FRAMS - Rohm Co Ltd. and Ramtron Interna-
tional Corp. have announced they will jointly manufacture and develop 
ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM) chips.
 
   Reports are that under the agreement, Rohm will supply complementary 
metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) wafers to Ramtron. Rohm will also build 
a production line to produce Ramtron-designed FRAMs.

   A Rohm spokesman said that FRAMs have the potential to replace all 
existing memory chips in the future.
 
 
   MICROSOFT SETTLES PIRACY LAWSUITS - Microsoft Corp. has reached a 
settlement in its software piracy lawsuit against former Microsoft OEM 
licensee Z-Nix Co. Inc.  Microsoft has also settled lawsuits with Z-Nix 
President Jimmy Chen and three Z-Nix distributors.
 
   The lawsuits were originally filed by Microsoft in June 1992 against 
Z-Nix for copyright and trademark infringement and breach of contract. 
It followed a two-month investigation, during which Microsoft alleged 
that it uncovered Z-Nix's massive illegal distribution of the Microsoft 
Windows operating system version 3.1.
 
 
   INTEL KEEPS HEAT ON AMD - Keeping the heat on its competitor, chip-
maker Intel Corp. has filed a new suit against Advanced Micro Devices 
Inc. claiming AMD had infringed on Intel's copyright for the '486 
microprocessor.

   The semiconductor giant also is asking U.S. District Judge William 
Ingram to reconsider his April 15 decision throwing out a jury verdict 
against AMD in a related Intel lawsuit. That ruling allowed AMD to begin 
shipping its clone of Intel's '486 microprocessor last week.

 
     ___________________________________________________________________




> ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine          The wires are a hummin'!
  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""
         
          
              
                            PEOPLE... ARE TALKING
                            =====================
             
              
 On CompuServe
 -------------
 compiled by Joe Mirando
             73637,2262



Hello again folks.  Well, it looks like spring is finally here.  All the
signs are there:  The grass is turning green, the sky is blue and clear,
the air is warm, and there are all kinds of birds to be seen.  Heck, there
have even been a few Falcons sighted (c'mon now, you knew that was coming,
didn't you?).  Let's just hope that the Falcon doesn't become an
endangered species.  Well, enough of that.  Let's get on with the news
from the Atari Forums on CompuServe.




>From the Atari Productivity Forum
=================================



Aidan Heritage asks:


"Is there any way of getting an index of all the software available in this
for that I can read off line?  It would make finding the file I want so much
easier."


Sysop Keith Joins tells Aidan:


"We don't have a current catalog of files in our library.  You can however
check for a file across all the libraries at one time by adding the
parameter LIB:ALL to whatever search command you are using.  Also the Atari
File Finder (GO ATARIFF) can search across all the Atari Forums at one time.

If there is a particular file you are looking for let me know and I can help
you find it."


Aidan replies to Keith:


"Than you for the reply.  The thing is, I don't know what I am looking for
till I see it!  I found the list of the files in the Portfolio area very
useful as I could then see what I wanted to get - and I could set my
software up to get it for me on a subsequent visit."


Keith tells Aidan:


"Ah, I see.  I used to do catalog files of the forums but there never seemed
to be too much interest in them and even doing them by library number with
each library in its own file created rather large files."


Well, as the pool of ST users gets smaller and smaller, we all start
looking into, if not buying another computer, at least what we might have
to do to transfer information from the trusty ST to another type of
machine.  Wayne McGuire asks:


"Is there a program available which will convert disks which were formatted
in Twister to MS-DOS? I've got about 300 ST disks formatted in Twister that
I'd like to read on my PC.

Is there a more appropriate forum or forum section in which to ask this
question?"


Sysop Bob Retelle tells Wayne:


"This is the place for your question, all right...  I just don't know if
there's a good answer for it or not...

There are two separate problems involved.. the first is the "normal"
ST-->DOS problem of the missing bytes in the boot sector that DOS needs to
see to recognize the disk.

There ARE ways around that...  I believe there is at least one PC program
which is supposed to write the missing three bytes onto the disk so it can
be read.  You can also use a "sector editor" on the PC to do that manually.

The second problem is the non-standard format used by Twister.

DOS users are just beginning to play around with alternative floppy formats,
including more sectors and tracks, so there might be some hope of getting
DOS to read the Twister disks.

As I recall, Twister used 10 sectors and 81 tracks to increase the storage
on a floppy.  I don't think the track skewing that it also used would be a
problem.  I didn't pay enough attention to the discussion in the PC
newsgroups about the subject to remember what exactly the solution was, but
I believe it required using a custom device driver for MS-DOS to read the
extended format.

You *might* be able to find out more about that by asking in the IBM
HARDWARE Forum here on CompuServe.

(I'm assuming you don't still have an ST...  the simplest answer, although
with 300 disks not the easiest one, would be to just recopy the disks onto
MS-DOS formatted disks.)

If I get a chance, I might experiment a little with this myself. I still
have a lot of disks formatted in ST format, and a lot of them are "Twisted",
so I still run into the problem occasionally myself...   although I usually
end up just copying the disks on my ST."


Wayne explains to Bob:


"Thanks for the reply. I gave my ST away, and I would prefer to avoid the
hassle of copying the Twister formatted disks to DOS formatted disks. If you
or anyone else here discovers a small program which will allow MS-DOS
machines to read Twister formatted disks, please let me know.

Now, of course, I wish I hadn't been so greedy for the extra bytes. There do
exist one or two programs for PC's which will read disks formatted in
standard ST mode."


Jim Ness jumps in and tells Wayne:


"The Dave Small Twister program used 80/10 for its format.  After converting
with DC Format, in the LIBs here, some PCs will read those disks.  Others
won't.  It isn't because of the Twister format, so much as because of the 10
sectors.

Twister simply moves the location of the beginning of a track, such that
after the head moves from the previous track, it "just happens" to be in a
good location to start reading the new track - without having to wait until
the new track spins around a bit.  DOS doesn't care about this, it's just
looking for the new track."


Sysop Jeff Kovach adds:


"I believe a PC program called MAXI will let you read extended format disks,
perhaps he should try looking for that one.  It is PD or shareware."


In keeping with the MS-DOS theme, Paul Seniura asks:


"I've posted this question on the IBM Hardware SIG.  Was hoping maybe
someone here knows:  How to hook up a Monochrome-VGA monitor to a ST?

My Multisync monitor went out, needs to be fixed.  I've heard a mono-VGA can
be used in ST hi-rez mode also.  But I can't find info on the pin-outs for
the mono-VGA's DB-9 socket to finish wiring it to the ST.

Mono-VGA's vertical sync at 72-Hz should match the ST hi-rez mode just fine.

I need to finish my homework before the library books are due.  So while
waiting for the multisync to get fixed, I gotta try doing this. (Yeah my
multisync could do *everything* .. sure do miss it."


Mike Fulton replies:


"Well, the monochrome-out pin of the Atari's monitor connector (pin 11)
should go to all three of the red, green, and, blue inputs on the VGA
monitor (I know you said it was monochrome, but it sounds like a greyscale
VGA, so it should have all three color signals on the connector).

Ground on the Atari (pin 13) goes to ground on the VGA.

H-Sync on the Atari (pin 9) should go to H-Sync on the VGA.

V-Sync on the Atari (pin 12) should go to V-Sync on the VGA.

Monochrome Detect on the Atari (pin 4) should be grounded back to ground on
the Atari (pin 13).  This is how the ST detects the difference between a
monochrome and color monitor. 

Some monitors may want to have some low-value resistors in between the
Atari's output and the red/green/blue inputs on the monitor.

Sorry I don't know the VGA connector pin numbers, but you should be able to
track that down somewhere.

Try this at your own risk.  I will accept no responsibility for any damage
or any injury to people or equipment.  This is how I have hooked up my own
machine and monitor in the past, I cannot make any guarantee it will work
for your setup."


Paul tells Mike:


"The multisync color was working in all 3 ST
modes but it went out.  So now I have a monochrome amber VGA as a backup but
don't know the pinouts for it.  A dude on the IBMHW SIG here responded with
the pinouts which might work but it doesn't explain what to do for a single
signal source.  Well I can explain it better by typing the IBMHW dude's
response:

   Pins 1 and 2 are Ground
   Pins 3,4,5 are NC
   Pin  6 is +Intensity
   Pin  7 is +Video
   Pin  8 is +H Sync
   Pin  9 is -V Sync

I asked him wasn't that a little weird, +HSync with -VSync (I'll see if he
answers tomorrow).  Plus I asked him what to do with +Intensity & +Video,
isn't that really the same signal with regard to a single video source
signal.  I know what monochrome VGAs are, they have a grey-scale Intensity
line, kinda like the CGA monitors: two levels of 8 colors, e.g. CGA has a
'yellow' (bright) and a 'brown' (low) using that Intensity line.

Oh what the heck, the guy repairing my multisync sez we can't do any harm by
experimenting, nothing more than +5 volts, no problem shorting something by
accident, etc.  I'm an old-time CoCo hacker, so if I can make this work,
I'll sure post the info for y'all.  If that +HSync is true, all I'll need is
an Inverting Gate IC to flip the Atari's -HSync (we had to do both H & V
syncs on the CoCo3 to make it viewable on the multisync -- yeah, I was using
this same multisync on *everything* here!).  Hey if this works, there's a
glut of monochrome VGAs out there for even $30, and what I saw before I
bought the amber one, it is *sharp*!  Paper-white ones can be found for oh
maybe $70-$80, brand-new ones for $100.  They're suppose to be much more
"linear" than when I saw an Atari SM124, i.e. good for DTP (I'm using CS-Tex
4.0 for my homework!)."


Hal Dougherty tells Mike:


"THANKS for the pinout!  I've just got a color monitor for my clone and now
I
have a spare VGA monochrome monitor to use on an ST.  It's a step up for the
monitor!"


Phil Jensen asks about his new Mega ST:


"Folks with Mega ST's:  do any of you notice a change in fan speed/sound
when the floppy drive is being accessed.  I do.  Should I worry about this?
(I've only had the Mega for a month or so, as a replacement for a dead 1040
with 2.5M.)"


Bob Retelle, Sysop, tells Phil:


"I don't have any experience with a Mega ST, but it sounds from your
description that the computer probably uses a 12 volt fan, instead of one
connected directly to 115 volts.

The floppy drive uses 12 volts to run its motor, as does the hard drive. 
The hard drive though is always running while the computer and fan are on,
so it doesn't affect anything.  The floppy drive motor only runs while the
drive is being accessed, and it probably tends to pull the 12 volt supply
down enough to slow the fan noticeably when the motor starts. 

This could be normal and perfectly harmless, or it could be an indication of
a weak power supply.

I think I'd only worry about it if no one else has a similar experience."


Our own Ralph Mariano, Editor-in-Chief of STReport, tells Phil:


"Its not a serious thing.... I noticed it also on both of my MSTEs and the
TT030.  Also, I noticed the very same thing on the Mega 4s that are still
here.  To stop the problem, you might consider the "beefed up" Power Supply
Best Electronics sells."


Phil replies to Ralph:


"Thanks, Ralph (and Bob too) for your advice.  I'll note the beefed-up power
supply idea for the future.

Actually, after the machine has been on for a long time, the phenomenon
seems to go away.  "curiouser and curiouser..."


Greg Wageman jumps in and asks Ralph:


"Do any of your TT's "squeal"?  My TT emits a very high-pitched squeal the
entire time it is on.  I suspect it is something in the (switching) power
supply, since it start before the hard drive has even spun up, and stops the
instant the power switch is shut off (before the hard drive has spun down).

I'm sure it isn't indicative of a problem, but it sure is annoying. :-)"


Ralph replies:


"If it does, I don't hear it.  I believe you're right though, it sounds
like its your power supply making the noise."


Greg tells Ralph:


"I can probably fix it with a little "coil dope", it's probably one of the
torroids.  By the way this kind of problem is common in switching power
supplies."


Last week there was a bit of discussion of an ST clone.  This week, the
discussion continues with Greg Wageman's post:


"...Being in Silicon Valley,
I'm particularly aware of the number of shops around here that sell really,
really cheap PC cards and add-ons.  I read the local press and literally
drool over all these cheap add-on boards that I can't use in my Atari
because it lacks an AT/XT buss and a standard SCSI buss.

My TT has a standard SCSI buss, but most of the add-on SCSI hardware other
than disk drives is useless, because Atari failed to provide a generic
application program interface (API) to the TT SCSI buss.  All I'd need is a
way to build a Group 0 Command Descriptor Block (CDB) for a SCSI device, and
a set of flags to tell the driver whether to expect a "Data In" phase or
not. Sun Micro has done this.  It isn't necessary on PC's, because every
hardware vendor provides software drivers as a matter of course.  I'd be
happy to write my own, but alas, Atari hasn't given me the tools.

There's a whole universe of SCSI devices other than disks that Atari users
could benefit from: 24-bit color scanners, CDROM drives, etc.

Heck, even Amiga users have access to AT-bus cards.  It's a shame that Atari
didn't see this as an important marketing feature as well."


Pattie Rayl of Atari Interface Magazine and the new CONNECT magazine, posts:


"One of the biggest problems that's been in the Atari market is the fact
that not many systems were produced.  If that changes, ie if someone really
can make lots of machines, that really will help all the Atari community."


Master Sysop, Ron Luks tells Pattie:


"You're absolutely right-- lots of machines would help save the Atari
community because it would draw lots of independent developers back to the
platform.

Realistically, I don't think that's going to happen.  However, I do think a
profitable niche market can be supported if done properly. My expectation
for the Falcon was never that it would be sold in the millions.  Sure, some
people talked about those kinds of numbers, but I never took them seriously.

I do believe that there are more than enough current and ex-Atari owners out
there, having already invested in ST/STe software, to support an improved
machine like the Falcon in numbers of 25,000-100,000 units. A single model
Falcon would target the lower end of this range but a more flexible
Falcon-type machine (what I call an Atari compatible) with industry standard
interfaces (like SCSI2, PCMCIA, etc) that could be configured by the
purchaser with any amount of RAM desired, choice of CPUs, etc., could sell
toward the upper range of that figure.

These numbers would never seriously threaten the PC or MAC marketplace, but
it could support specialty groups like musicians or even home
hackers/enthusiasts.  It could be quite profitable even on a limited scale.
This size marketplace may not interest people intent on hitting nothing but
home runs or looking for Nintendo-size numbers, but I have to believe there
are others in the business who would be comfortable with this kind of a
marketplace.

Just my opinion."


Oscar Steele of Purple Mountain Computers tells Ron:


"I think that everyone knows that the ST could have succeeded extremely
successfully with the proper marketing.  i.e. the Spectre could've been
touted as making it a Mac clone at a cheap cost.  You can count on my
support of such a clone, because if it's properly marketed (and has Falcon
features such as a 486 emulator) then I think it can go a long way.  If you
have people lined up and start working on marketing aspects, get in touch."


Ron replies to Oscar:


"I have to agree with you that a large part of the ST's failure was due to a
poor marketing approach.  It may not even be reasonable to talk about the ST
as a 'failure' because the machine (and its successor STe) are still
performing quite admirably in a number of areas.  In fact, an argument could
easily be made that the ST was a success but the company was a failure
because the computer never had a clear, consistent identity or path after
its initial years in release.

The hardware itself has many satisfied owners (myself included) who are
still using it on a regular basis.  I love the ease of use of most of my
ST/STe software and for the majority of my work, its more than adequate. 
Whatever few frustrations I have with my system are related to its
proprietary nature.

Although I'm looking back with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, I don't think
it would be unreasonable to state that as far back as 1987-88, it was clear
to most people in this industry that the PC and to a lesser extent, the Mac,
were going to be the dominant platforms in the industry. The PC was
especially favored because of its open architecture and the way you could
hook up a variety of peripherals inspite of its non-GUI software.  Atari
could have taken a path of making their hardware much more 'standard' (using
SCSI instead of holding on to ACSI, etc.) and today the atari marketplace
would be in much better shape than it is.

By keeping their hardware and software so proprietary, they forced 3rd party
developers to work on Atari's terms or not at all. In my view, it was an
issue of total control over the hardware and software sold in the Atari
marketplace.  Atari management wanted to exercise more control over the
marketplace than they were capable of handling with sufficient expertise.

The company went through years of targeting different groups in the computer
marketplace but the targets kept changing too fast and the employee turnover
was too quick to make a successful effort at any of them.  In essence, they
spun their wheels using up valuable time, money, and effort without a clear
cut direction.

By the time they hit upon the Falcon, the resources left at the company were
stretched too thin to adequately develop, build, distribute, and market the
unit and that's where we stand now."



>From The Atari ST Arts Forum
============================



On the subject of the Falcon030, Peter Joseph posts:


"There are new rumors over here regarding the early Falcons.  Someone
is saying that the base Falcons will be bare-bones units with no DSP
and such."


Stefan Daystrom at Barefoot Software tells Peter:


"From what I can figure it out, that rumor seems to have been started by
someone not understanding model names.  What that description might possibly
be of is what has typically been referred to as the Jaguar (at least in the
US), which is a model that's kinda spun off the Falcon030 but is _below_ the
Falcon030.  Sounds like someone didn't understand that it was a different
model _below_ the Falcon030, and just heard that it was a low-end model
technically related to the Falcon, and started incorrectly calling it a
"base Falcon" or whatever.

(Reminds of the rumor a few years back that 1040ST's had been discontinued,
which was based on somebody hearing but not understanding that _1040STf's_
had been discontinued because they'd had RF modulators added on and thus had
been replaced with _1040STfm's_!!!!  1040STf's being discontinued was true,
but that was certainly not rephraseable as 1040's being discontinued! "A
_little_ knowledge can be dangerous", as the saying goes...)"


Sysop Brad Hill asks:


"I thought the Jaguar was a hand-held game machine?  What am I thinking
of?  Do I have my names confused?"


Sysop Bob Retelle tells Brad:


"The Lynx is the hand-held game machine, the Jaguar is to be a "console"
game machine, ie: like the Super Nintendo.

It's NOT a part of the Atari Computer line, and thus, NOT a model "below"
the Falcon.

It's easy to get non-existent products confused though..."


Brad posts:


"Oh, a console, OK.  I _thought_ it was a game machine, and not part of
the computer line."


Sysop Ron Luks tells Brad:


"Lynx is the hand held game machine.  Jaguar is a 'tabletop' game machine
currently under development.  It is based on a 64-bit RISC processor."


John at Missionware Software brings us back to the subject of an ST clone:


"I gotta wonder how some other company *can* produce Atari compatible
computers.  Actually, I should clarify that by saying that it wouldn't be
too difficult to create the hardware, however, TOS is a proprietary product
of atari and unless they license it to this other hardware source, it's
going to be difficult running Atari software on this "clone" without the
proper operating system."


Sysop Bob Retelle tells John:


"If properly done, I think a "TOS-alike" operating system shouldn't be all
that hard to create legally...    IBM really scrutinized the "cloned BIOSes"
that appeared on the market, but found that while they worked like the IBM
BIOS, they didn't infringe on their copyrights, and there was little they
could do but live with it.

The REALLY difficult part would be the GEM interface.  Unless it could be
licensed from Novell (who seems to have no interest at all in GEM, even
though they own it now), that too would have to be "reverse engineered", and
that would be a far more difficult project.

Possibly the easiest way would be to produce the hardware with empty ROM
sockets, and depend on obtaining legal TOS ROMs from Atari, much like the
Spectre emulator situation.  Of course, Atari could squash that by refusing
to sell ROMs.  It remains to be seen whether or not they'd do that...

The original ST went from idea to market in something like
six months... including writing the operating system...  (which still has to
stand as something of a record.. quite an accomplishment..!)

It's true that "reverse engineering" something might be more difficult, but
it probably wouldn't be all that bad...

Unfortunately, you're right though.. it's the software end of the project
that's likely to be the biggest problem."


John tells Bob:


"Oh Boy...time to try to pull out some history here.  If I recall properly,
didn't atari send something like 4 or 5 software gurus to DR to do the port
of GEM?  I seem to remember reading that they directly rewrote the code from
Intel to Motorola in that 6 months.  Does that sound about right?

I think that the BIOS was already written, or at least pretty much complete.
Wasn't there even some early talk about porting CP/M as the ops system to
the ST?

Hmmmm......"


Ron Luks adds:


"The obvious possibility is that they could license TOS from Atari Corp.
The less obvious and more difficult approach (but certainly not impossible)
would be to reverse engineer TOS.  Seems companies like Phoenix and AMI did
that to the IBM Bios with out IBM's blessing and it held up in court.

A third possibility would be to buy something like Gribnif's Neodesk."


Charles F. Johnson, CodeHead el Supremo, tells Ron:


"Neodesk is just a desktop program; it's a program like any other program.
Neodesk _uses_ TOS to do its work, it's not a replacement for TOS.  There's
much more to an operating system than just the desktop -- in fact, I'd
estimate that the actual desktop is no more than 10% of the code in TOS.

  Reverse engineering TOS is definitely possible, though.  Actually, by
modern GUI standards, TOS is very simple (I was going to say "primitive,"
but that has the wrong connotation).  It would be much easier to reverse
engineer TOS than Windows or the Mac OS.  While it would take some hard
work, it's certainly doable."


Greg Wageman tells Charles:


"I must respectfully disagree.

The more an OS or API (Application Program Interface) is documented, the
easier it is to clone, since the expected behavior is documented in the
spec.

As I'm sure you know very well, the behavior of TOS under various conditions
is not only not-well-documented, it is also subject to change from TOS
version to TOS version.

Therefore, in my opinion, anyone who wished to clone TOS from published
specifications would not have sufficient information available to them to do
the job without actually _verifying the behavior under TOS_, which violates
the "clean room" procedure under which non-infringing clones are developed.

In other words, Atari's TOS documentation is not sufficient to develop a
work-alike from.  In many cases, it is not sufficient to _develop_ from,
hence the large number of non-portable, non-compliant programs the user
community has to deal with."


Clive Parker of ST Format, the British ST mag that's also big news on this
side of the Atlantic, tells Charles:


"There is already a replacement operating system on ROM. It is called EOS
(Enhanced Operating System?) and is produced by a German developer. It is
available in the UK for 99 pounds as direct replacement for Atari ROMs. I'll
contact the UK distributors for more info... it is also available on
floppy."



     Well folks, I've taken far more room than I had intended to, so I won't
have room for the Atari Vendors forum or the Atari Portfolio Forum.  I
apologize, but I thought that you might find the info on the monitors and
especially the ST Clone stuff interesting.  I'll have the other forums back
next time right here.  So tune in and listen to what they are saying when...


                             PEOPLE ARE TALKING



   ***********************************************************************

                              IMPORTANT NOTICE!
                              =================

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                         Try DELPHI for $1 an hour!

     For  a limited  time, you  can  become a  trial member  of  DELPHI, and
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                        TOP TEN DOWNLOADS (4/28/93)                       
                                                                          
                        (1) MSA V. 2.2                                    
                        (2) LITTLE GREEN SELECTOR                         
                        (3) STREPORT 9.17 04/23/93                       
                        (4) TOS COMPATIBILITY FIX                         
                        (5) DC XTRACT PLUS 2.1                            
                        (6) AEO: VOLUME 2 - ISSUE 8                       
                        (7) Z*NET 9314                                    
                        (8) REHBOCK.ARC                                   
                        (9) DOUBLE CLICK'S DC-SEA                         
                        (10) XYZPATCH.ZIP                   
              
                                                                          
All of the above files can  be found in the RECENT ARRIVALS database for  at
least one week after the posting of this list.  Please Note that in the case
of online magazines, only the most current issue in the database at the time
of this compilation is considered for the Top 10 list.  Also, for all files,
a submission  is eligible for the Top 10  list for only four weeks after its
original uploading.  


                  DELPHI- It's getting better all the time!



   ***********************************************************************



> CT FEST'93 STR SHOW NEWS               The Summertime Atari Event!
  """"""""""""""""""""""""



                           THE CT ATARIFEST '93!
                           =====================


                  JUNE 12 & 13, AT THE WINDSOR COURT HOTEL
                     WINDSOR, CT. (JUST ABOVE HARTFORD)


     Free Parking!
          Low Room Rates!
               More Vendors!
                    More Floor Space!



              CONNECTICUT SHOW TO FEATURE ATARI'S LATEST ENTRY
              ================================================


HARTFORD, Conn. (April 12)

     More  than 1,000 Atari  computer enthusiasts are  expected to converge
here June 12 and 13 at Connecticut AtariFest '93, and are certain to debate
whether the  star of the  show --  THE LONG-AWAITED  FALCON030 COMPUTER  --
lives up to its advance billing.

     Yep,  that ACT Atari Group is running another major NorthEast computer
event.   Last  year's  successful CT  Fest had  over  700 attendees,  which
merited  a larger location,  so we've moved  a mile away  (exit 42 on I-91)
into bigger  and better  quarters.   We're just as  convenient to  reach as
ever, and  only  two hours  from Boston  or  New York!  The  new hotel  has
excellent  room rates ($35.00 per  room), free and  plentiful parking, easy
access from Interstate 91, I-95, I-90,  I-84, I-80, an in house Sports Bar,
a bigger ballroom  and is located  just 1  mile from Bradley  International
Airport (free shuttle service for hotel guests).

     The Falcon030  is a perfect low cost tool for the professional artist,
with 8 track, 16 bit musical capabilities, truecolor graphics  and a 32 bit
DSP  chip.   The  Falcon  will  be  bundled  with several  music  programs,
including a 4 track 'Direct to Disk' editing and recording program, a sound
sampler and an all purpose productivity package called AtariWorks.

     The Hartford  show will  likely be  one of  the  first encounters  the
general public has with the new machine and software leading designers have
produced for it.  Atari was  performing quality control tests on the latest
production models shipped to the Sunnyvale headquarters in mid-April.

     The  two-day event  will  feature more  than 40  exhibitors, including
several of the top  names in music software development and MIDI equipment.
Tentative  music  exhibitors  include  Barefoot  Software  (formerly Hybrid
Arts), Digital F/X, Steinberg/Jones, Pro Musica, Compo Software and others.
The show, sponsored by ACT Atari Group,  will be held at the Windsor  Court
Hotel, just off Interstate 91 at exit 42.

     Connecticut  AtariFest'93 promises  to  showcase  the work  of  several
musicians and will include some live music sessions.

     Other vendors will demonstrate  new equipment and software that will be
of interest  to musicians whether they're  on or off  the job.  Among  them,
organizers have  received tentative nods from  A&D Software, ABC  Solutions,
Baggetaware,  Barefoot  Software, Compo  Software,  Computer  Studio, Derric
Electronics,  East Hartford  Computer Repair,  Gribnif Software,  ICD  Inc.,
MegaType Software, Soft-Logik Publishing, Toad Computers,  Wizztronics. Last
year  14 user groups participated,  and that number  is expected  to grow by
June.

     A  Home Business  and Entertainment Expo  that will  focus on high-tech
gadgetry designed for  home use  is also planned.   Central activities  will
include a  New England  Lynx Tournament for  the gamester in  the family,  a
Portfolio  corner  for  the  on-the-go  palmtop  computer  user,  and  other
technology such  as VCRs, lap/palmtops,  voice messaging systems,  satellite
receivers,  CD-ROM,  fax-modems,  large  screen  TV,  printers,  audio-video
components, cellular  phones, office supplies, video  games or add-on  units
and accessories.

     We'll have  our annual  New  England  Lynx Competition,  with  multiple
Comlynxed competitions  underway at  all times.   Last  year's winners  took
home prizes  ranging from  games to  accessories to  complete Lynx  Systems!
Bring your best player and join the fun.

     We'll have  the Portfolio  Corner, staffed  with  industry pundits  and
filled  with every imaginable palmtop  peripheral!  Last  year we  had a few
Portfolios disassembled  at the  booth, a  real insight  into surface  mount
technology!

     For those  of you  with an  eye towards  seminars, we'll  have them  in
abundance, last  year's question  and answer  session with  Bob Brodie  drew
standing only crowds! In  addition, we had John Eidsvoog's walk through  the
Codehead graphic  tools,  Jeff  Naideau  of Barefoot  Software  showing  off
EdiTrack Platinum, Dave  Troy of (Guess[ribbet]) Computers, STReport's  Dana
Jacobson and Joe Mirando and many, many others.

     And to  top things  off, come out  and see  the Falcon 030  in all  its
glory.   By then we expect to see some rad  new programs out and some really
excitement!   All in all, we hope to  have the best  Northeast show yet, and
we look  forward to  your participation.  Make  your plans now  for the most
exciting Atari Weekend this spring!

     For  further information, call  Brian Gockley  at 203-332-1721  or Doug
Finch  at 203-637-1034.  We can also be found on  GEnie in Category 11 or on

Compuserve in  the Atari  Forums.   E-mail can  be directed to  B.GOCKLEY or
D.FINCH7 on GEnie or to 75300,2514 or 76337,1067 on CIS.


   _____________________________________________________________________




> AGGRESSIVE ASSUMPTION! STR Spotlight          Will it ever end?
  """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""





                    TRUE ZEAL OR AGGRESSIVE ASSUMPTION?
                    ===================================




by R. F. Mariano


     It's  truly  a shameful  affair  when  we find  messages  such  as  the
following plaguing  the IRREFUTABLE truth  with senseless prattle  emanating
from those claiming to  "know otherwise".   As has been the  case, for  what
seems  like  an eternity,  STReport  will  once again  stand  tall with  its
accuracy and truthful  reporting.  Of course, we  speak of the  debacle that
recently occurred on Delphi  in its Atari area  about the lay-offs at Atari.
When it came  to the revealing information  and quotes we received  relative
to  this event, the disinformation  squads rose to  the occasion  with a new
"modus operandi".  They  actually spread half  truths and innuendo in  hopes
of deflecting  attention away from the  fact that two  people, in particular
Lindsay and  Meer,  were actually  laid off!    Absolutely  incredible.   So
incredible that  many began  to call  their actions  a clumsy coverup.   The
actual report as released by STReport  is presented beneath this  accusatory
message  from  Chris  Millar,  a  very  bright  teenager, who  seems  to  be
innocently following  the "Atari line"  being put  forth by the  "masters of
disinformation".

                                   --><--
from Delphi's Atari Area
53731 27-APR 01:33 General Information
     RE: What's going on here? (Re: Msg 53647)
     From: CMILLAR      To: RMARIANO

"The lay-off came when we reported it and it still is that way. The truth
will come out soon enough."

Now this seems to somewhat of a change.  Originally, you reported that they
had been fired.  That was then refuted in the pages of AEO, and by Andreas
Barbiero.  You responded by saying something to the effect of, "But what
happens at the end of the week...". That would imply that what you
originally reported was false, and now you are refuting _that_.

Andreas Barbiero has stated time and time again that they are still working
for Atari.  He has backed up this claim by stating that he spoken to him on
several occasions about this.  He also claimed that you never attempted to
contact Atari concerning these matters.  You, on the other hand, will not
divulge the source of your information, and have never claimed to have
tried to contact Atari.  Couple this with your infamous history of
misrepresentation and sensationalism, and your credibility is non-existent.

"Nothings changed except the level of smoke."

The only smoke in this situation is the haze which seems to perpetually
cloud your judgement.

- Chris Millar

                                   --><--

>From STReport 9.16

- Sunnyvale, CA                              REVOLVING DOOR VERY BUSY!
  -------------
    
     According to  our  sources, Mike  Lindsay  and  Darren Meer,  of  Atari
Explorer  Magazine, Gail Bicani developer  support person and Bruce  Coleman
have  left Atari's  employ.   Additionally,  our  reporters find  that Atari
Explorer Magazine may  also have been shut  down.  Subsequently, Lindsay and
Meer  were  reportedly  offered  "commissioned  employment"   consisting  of
selling subscriptions  to the Explorer magazine  which was  reported to have
been refused.
 
     In the last three weeks, Atari laid off twenty two employees  including
Mel  Stevens the  man who  organized most  all of  Atari's  show efforts,  a
veteran employee of  nineteen years.   Reportedly, about  half of the  Atari
headquarters building  is relatively devoid of  people and  the warehouse is
alleged to be shutdown.
 
     "For  all intents  and purposes,  Atari may  as well  be shutdown, even
though they may claim to have about  one hundred and fifty Falcons  on hand"
said one observer  who asked to remain anonymous.   Amidst these  events and
all the  Falcon shipping  delays and  excuses, Atari's  userbase is  growing
quite  uneasy as  to  the final  outcome.   Further  developments reportedly
include information stating they've recently received a shipment  of Falcons
(last Tuesday) destined for  shipment in the  USA. But it was  further added
they must  first go  through Atari's QC  thus, causing a  possible three  to
four week delay in shipping these units.

                                   --><--

     Mr.  Millar makes quite a few  assertions as to what was  stated in our
release  as everyone  can plainly  see, he  is sadly  mistaken.   Never  did
STReport ever state  they had  been fired.   To add  to the comments  Millar
states;

     "Andreas Barbiero has stated time and time again that they are still
     working for Atari.  He has backed up this claim by stating that
     he spoken to him on several occasions about this."

     I'm afraid  Mr.  Millar,  you've  fallen prey  to  a  bad case  of  the
"assumptions".  You've apparently ASSUMED that  since Mr. Barbiero spoke  to
Mr.  Lindsay at Atari  that Mr. Lindsay was still  working for Atari and was
still  on the payroll.  Fact  is they were  laid-off on Holy Thursday, April
08, 1993  and our original bulletin disclosed this information  on April 12,
1993.  The report was true and accurate then and it still is now.
   
     Millar continues to make demands;

     "You, on the other hand, will not divulge the source of your
     information, and have never claimed to have tried to contact Atari."

     Revealing sources to you??  Surly you jest!  Not you or anyone else
will know who our source are inside Atari not now, not EVER!

     Its  incredible  to  find  the  "broad  all-encompassing"   accusations
flowing freely  as if they are  a matter of  fact.  When, in  fact, they are
simply  more  assumptions  and  at  that,  they're  based  on  pure fantasy.
STReport diligently reports _all_  the verified happenings  occurring in the
Atari  platform not just the rosy pablum and fluff  as some do or would have
us do,  in our Atari edition.   We did indeed  attempt to contact Atari  and
found a  "recording" with Mike  Lindsay's voice telling  us all about  their
"working on  other projects" running  on Lindsay's phone line  a day or  two
after the verified  layoffs.  Incidently and  for the record, we re-verified
the  layoffs  again this  past  wednesday  to make  perfectly  sure we  were
correct.  They  are not on the payroll  and haven't been since the  thursday
in question.  In  clear concise  terms; they're no longer  in the employ  of
Atari.   While Lindsay  may be around to answer the  phone, he is not on the
payroll  he is  there  trying to  negotiate a  deal  to run  Atari  Explorer
Magazine on his own,  outside of Atari. The  original reports were verified.
STReport stands by the reports in their entirety.

  Once again, for the record,  STReport verified the  information completely
before  the  release  of  the  4/12/93  bulletin.    The only  item  in  the
subsequent  information  released  on  the  Friday  the  16th  is  about the
"commissioned employment".  This information was  incorrect.   Mike  Lindsay
and Darren  Meer were not  offered any  type of  commissioned employment  by
Atari.  This  is according to Mike himself, whom I spoke  to recently.  When
asked about  his employment,  he readily  admitted that both  he and  Darren
were not  on the Atari payroll.  However, they were involved in negotiations
with Atari  concerning Atari  Explorer Magazine,  he added.   STReport,  its
staff and contributors wish Mike and Darren all the success in the  world if
they do take over Explorer on their own.


    ___________________________________________________________________




> BAGGETTA WARE STR InfoFile  "The Eliemouse complimentary Coloring Book"
  """"""""""""""""""""""""""





                "THE ELIEMOUSE COMPLIMENTARY COLORING BOOK"
                ===========================================

PRESS RELEASE

                               BAGGETTA_WARE
                                P.O. BOX 759
                           AGAWAM, MA 01001-0759


VERSION 7  of "The  Eliemouse Complimentary  Coloring Book"  (ECCB7) is  now
available for shipping.   One year  of work  has gone into  this upgrade  of
version  6.   ECCB7  is MULTI-LINGUAL,  allowing hours  of  fun  in English,
Spanish or French for  children ages 4 and up.   Here are a few more of  the
many features added: 

     Music feature added -- play tunes with color
     Psychedelic color shifting
     Pattern fills
     New on-line games
     Slide show feature
     Add toys to pictures
     Instant 'string art' designs
     Quick change of languages
     Add picture labels
     New interface features
     F-key alternate commands
     Quick sheet

          and much, much more....

     ECCB7 is  the only  electronic coloring  book featuring Eliemouse,  the
user friendly  fellow who communicates with  your child  during the coloring
activity.  He is  filled with  compliments and ECCB is  filled with lots  of
educational fun for your child.

     ECCB7 is being offered as a package as follows:

     Main Program with 6 starter pictures
     140 compressed pictures (Eliemouse and friends, butterflies
          alphabet creatures, flowers, animation pictures, doofy
          dinosaurs, stain glass windows, christmas pictures and
          special story pictures).
     Eliemouse Spelling Hunt Color Adventure Game
     Eliemouse Paper, Scissors, Rocks Game
     Eliemouse Count the Peanuts Game
     6 Bonus Color Screens (.PI1 format)
     48 Page Printed Manual
     Souvenir Eliemouse Pencil

     (Price $45.00 --A $100.00 value if purchased separately --
     pictures disks may be ordered separately at $5.00 per disk)

     UPGRADE -- Current users  of ECCB may  upgrade from any version  to the
above package for only $25.00  -- Return original disk(s)  and include $1.00
for postage)

     Order from     Baggetta_Ware
                    P.O. Box 759
                    Agawam, MA  01001-0759



  ***********************************************************************

                    :HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT:
                     _________________________________

      Set your communications software to Half Duplex (or Local Echo)
                      Call: (with modem) 800-638-8369.
               Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that).
                          Wait for the U#= prompt.

                  Type: XTX99587,CPUREPT then, hit RETURN.

GEnie costs only $4.95  a month for unlimited evening and weekend access  to
more  than 100  services  including  electronic mail,  online  encyclopedia,
shopping, news, entertainment,  single-player games, and bulletin boards  on
leisure and professional subjects.   With many other services, including the
biggest collection of files to download  and the best online games, for only
$6 per hour.

MONEY  BACK GUARANTEE!  Any  time during your  first month  of membership if
you are not completely satisfied, just ask for your $4.95 back.

Welcome to the GEnie Windows and Windows NT RoundTable!


                                           +------------------------+
Brought to you by Rick Ruhl (RICKER),      | Files Messages RTC Help|
                Richard Dill (RDILL),      |-^-----^--------^---^---|
                and Charlie Strom (STROM)  | +-------------+        |
                Windows R/T SYSOPs         | |_____________|        |
                                           | |   Windows   |        |
With Assistant SYSOPs                      | |     +-------------+  |
  Craig Austin    (AUSTIN)      Library    | |     |_____________|  |
  Stewart Hyde    (STEWART)     BB         | |     |             |  |
  Ron McLurkin    (MCLURKIN)    Library    | +-----| Windows NT  |  |
  Peter Ziebel    (PETER.Z)     Help Desk  |       |     3.1     |  |
  Michele Cardone (MICHELE-C)   Help Desk  |       |             |  |
  Wayne Lively    (W.LIVELY)    Help Desk  |       +-------------+  |
  Roy Green       (R.GREEN13)   Help Desk  +------------------------+
  Herman Griffith (HERM)        Help Desk and BB
  Mike Bourdeau   (IMPERIAL-WE) Help Desk
  Keith Elkin     (K.ELKIN)     Help Desk <Chatlines>
  Wendy Reynolds  (WENDYSUE)    Help Desk <Chatlines>

Windows RT Newsletter
  Holly Jahangiri (JESSIEBELLE) Editor
  Peter Ziebel    (PETER.Z)     Editor

Promotions and Marketing
  Laura Tanner (LTANNER)

Windows and Windows NT are trademarks and Microsoft is a registered
trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

The Windows R/T is independent and is not affiliated with Microsoft
Corporation.

    +----------------------------+      +-----------------------------+
    | "Open Windows" RT Meeting  |      |     Windows RT Help Desk    |
    |----------------------------|      |-----------------------------|
    |     Thursday, 21:30 ET     |      |  Mon., Tues., Wed. & Friday |
    |         RTC Room 2         |      |  21:30-00:30 ET RTC Room 2  |
    +----------------------------+      +-----------------------------+

                     Voted Best New RT on GEnie, 1993



                   The Windows RT is proud to Welcome
                          Berkeley Systems, Inc.

                               Makers of:
                        "After Dark for Windows"
                                   and
                       "Star Trek, the screen saver"
                             Online Support Area

                          Windows Bulletin Board
                               Category 27

                     Pick Item 1 from the Windows Menu
                       and type 'SET 27' in the BB


          GEnie Information copyright (C) 1991 by General Electric
            Information Services/GEnie, reprinted by permission

   ***********************************************************************



> IAAD REPORT STR FOCUS!        Piracy Kills on the Atari Platform
  """"""""""""""""""""""



                             IAAD PIRACY REPORT
                             ==================



(reprint with permission by D.A. Brumleve 4/27/93)

This article is the result of contributions by people from every facet of
the Atari community.  Many thanks to all the users, developers, sysops, and
others who provided the investigators with information and assistance.

[Note: Stand-alone quotations are framed on the left and right by 
the "~" character.] 

                       Small Developers, Big Business
            How Pirate BBSs Impact on the Entire Atari Community
                     by D.A. Brumleve, President, IAAD
                      Copyright 1993 by D.A. Brumleve

The Independent Association of Atari Developers represents over sixty
companies supporting the Atari ST platform with commercial software and
hardware.  Now and then a "pirate" BBS will come to our members' attention. 
We'll capture the file areas and study them.  We'll cringe at the download
counts and growl at the messages about our products.  We'll download copies
of our products and trace the original owner.  Sometimes we'll even file 
a police report, but the pirate board stays up and callers keep calling,
downloading, and uploading our programs.  And every time we leave this
experience further demoralized, less enthusiastic about writing for the ST,
less enthusiastic about programming in _general_.
  
Recently, the IAAD undertook a more comprehensive investigation of pirate
BBSs in North America.  We solicited information from the public -- and the
Atari community responded.  In spite of some previous experience with
pirate boards, I was not at all prepared for the amount of pirate activity
we found.
 
On each pirate BBS, we found numbers for other BBSs, many of which also
proved to have copyrighted files.  We found concentrated pockets of heavy
pirate activity in the Southwest, the East, and the Southeast, but we also
found isolated pirate boards in just about every region of the continent. 
We found small boards with few users and fewer files; we found big boards 
with hundreds of users offering nearly every commercial program on the
market of current interest.  We found young teens actively involved in
criminal activity -- and older, more experienced men showing them the
ropes.  On every user list, I encountered folks I know: the doting father
who bought Super Kidgrid for his daughter at a show, the user group officer
who contacted me for IAAD brochures, and many, many others who chat with me
from time to time on the major pay services.
 
Because of the scope and scale of this activity, I feel that it's important
to share our findings with the Atari community at large.  What follows is
the outcome of our investigation.

1. The Damage

     ~    This BBS DOES NOT support the transfer of any pirated      ~
     ~    software.                                                  ~
          -- Rats Nest BBS

     ~    Rats Nest always had some of the best stuff around...      ~
          --Zaphod Beeblebrox on Fawlty Towers BBS

When people pirate programs they would otherwise buy, developers and
dealers (and distributors) lose sales.  Dealers respond to low sales by
closing or supporting another platform.  Developers respond to low sales by
raising their prices or by dropping the product; either way, the market is
damaged.  

How badly damaged?  Let's take a look at just some of the commercial
applications and utilities which were until recently available on the Rats
Nest in Loma Alta CA.  For the sake of brevity, I've limited this
particular list to products of IAAD members and Atari Corporation; thus
this list does not include applications and utilities by publishers who are
not members of the IAAD, public domain files, or shareware programs.
                                         _
    ____                           __   / \
   /    \                         /  \  \ /
   \  |  |          ___           |   \ / \ _____   /\  ___
   |     | __  _  __\ /__   /\    |    \| |/     \ / /__\ /__
   |    / /  \/ \/       \ / /    | |\    |   -- // //       \
   |    \| |  \ |\__   __// /     | | \   |   ___\\ \\__   __/
   | |\  | |  | |   | |   \ \     | |  \  |\_____/ \ \  | |
   | | \ |    / |   | |    \ \    | |   \_/        / /  | |
   \ /  \/\__/\./   \ /    / /    \ /             / /   \ /
   / \         |    / \   / /     / \            / /    / \
   \./         |    \./  / /      \./            \/     \./
    |                |   \/        |              |      |
    |          .     .    |        .              .      |
    .                     |                              .
                          .

  *^* (#1)  Applications  *^*

 ### | Filename.Ext   Size     Date   Brief Description                     
 
   5 | Maxif_3A.Lzh    55665 01-03-92 MaxiFile v3.3a
  13 | Hdsentry.Lzh    33922 01-10-92 HD Sentry... HD optimizer, fixer
  18 | Xboot   .Lzh    37888 01-18-92 X-Boot, like Desk Manager
  19 | Steno   .Lzh    28885 01-18-92 STeno, from Gribnif. Sortof Flakey
  36 | Gramxprt.Lzh    84265 02-05-92 Grammer Expert
  37 | Grnslamc.Lzh    56066 02-05-92 Gran Slam!
  48 | Codeke13.Lzh    98427 02-05-92 CodeKeys v1.3 from Gribnif 
  49 | Mltdsh33.Lzh   217352 02-05-92 MultiDesk Deluxe v3.3
  56 | Knife108.Lzh    87757 02-05-92 Knife ST!
  71 | Lookpop .Lzh   109631 02-07-92 Look It! and Pop It! from Codeheads
  72 | Imagecat.Lzh   290048 02-07-92 ImageCat 2.o
 111 | Hpas_A  .Lzh   247343 02-22-92 High Speed Pascal, Disk 1 of 2
 112 | Hpas_B  .Lzh   269757 02-22-92 High Speed Pascal, Disk 2 of 2
 150 | Tos_206 .Lzh    77116 03-22-92 Tos 2.06 software vertion
 151 | Hyprlink.Lzh   271744 03-28-92 HyperLink
 164 | Chem1_2 .Lzh   217327 04-05-92 Chemistry - Arrakis educational
 165 | Chm2Sts1.Lzh   222763 04-05-92 Chemistry 2 and Stats from Arrakis
 166 | Alg11_12.Lzh   224322 04-06-92 Algebra 1 from Arrakis educational
 167 | Alg12_21.Lzh   247109 04-06-92 Algebra 2  from Arrakis
 168 | Al3_1Tr1.Zip   239499 04-06-92 Algebra 3 Trig 1 from Arrakis
 173 | Neocli  .Lzh    66076 04-19-92 NeoDesk Command Line... nice
 178 | Tos1_4  .Zip   123342 04-25-92 To run those stubern 1.4 tos soft
 197 | Xboot257.Zip    51420 05-06-92 Newest Version of X-Boot (v2.57)
 221 | Tw13E_A .Lzh   703536 05-17-92 That's Write 1.3 - English - 1/2
 222 | Tw13E_B .Lzh   703536 05-17-92 That's Write 1.3 - English - 2/2
 228 | Gen106_A.Lzh   192808 05-17-92 That's Relative 106 1/2 ELITE release
 229 | Gen106_B.Lzh   130361 05-17-92 That's Relative 2/2  ELITE release
 243 | P_Nix15A.Lzh   427252 05-30-92 Phoenix v.1.5 - Disk 1 of 3
 244 | P_Nix15B.Lzh   410836 05-30-92 Phoenix v.1.5 - Disk 2 of 3
 245 | P_Nix15C.Lzh   410836 05-30-92 Phoenix v.1.5 - Disk 3 of 3
 258 | Tracker .Lzh   402564 06-08-92 Rolodex/Client Tracking util
 287 | Mint80A .Lzh   503661 07-20-92 MultiTos v8.0 [1/3]
 288 | Mint80B .Lzh   181797 07-20-92 MultiTos v8.0 [2/3]
 289 | Mint80C .Lzh   263956 07-20-92 MultiTos v8.0 [3/3]
 297 | Scanlitd.Arc    33361 08-01-92 Hand Scanner software
 308 | Codehed4.Lzh   191763 08-08-92 CodeHead Utilities rel.4 (1991)
 317 | Clnup426.Lzh    91942 08-29-92 ICD CleanUP 4.26  Host required
 334 | Edhak236.Lzh    43125 09-12-92 Edhack v2.36 (patched from v2.35)
 335 | Dmd_Edge.Lzh   149439 09-13-92 Diamond Edge  1.0  ELITE release
 352 | Dback250.Lzh    85508 10-03-92 Diamond Back 2.50  latest
 356 | Warp9373.Lzh   338270 10-07-92 Warp 9 3.73  Complete Package
 374 | L_Rad_E1.Lzh   631730 10-18-92 Redacteur 3 1/4 (eng) ELITE release
 375 | L_Rad_E2.Lzh   485004 10-18-92 Redacteur 3 2/3 (eng) ELITE release
 376 | L_Rad_E3.Lzh   660252 10-18-92 Redacteur 3 3/4 (eng) ELITE release
 377 | L_Rad_E4.Lzh   525994 10-18-92 Redacteur 3 4/4 (eng) ELITE  release
 378 | Icdb604C.Lzh    12971 10-18-92 ICD Booter 6.0.4 (crack'd) by Zaphod
 388 | Harleq21.Lzh   360135 11-12-92 Harlequin 201 Genesis INC
release(old)
 392 | Adspeed .Lzh    95744 11-20-92 ICD Adspeed Accelerator Software.
 396 | Harl_206.Lzh   354749 11-26-92 Harlequin  vrs. 2.06
 402 | Spectre3.Zip   446203 12-02-92 Spectre 3.0 software
 403 | Xboot300.Lzh    59385 12-04-92 X-Boot v3.00
 408 | Cache_Cr.Lzh    33876 12-13-92 Cache 2.56  ELITE hacked/all features
 410 | Mvg200  .Lzh   488069 12-13-92 Multi Vue Graphica 2.0
 421 | Cardf403.Lzh   186987 01-03-93 Card File 4.03 from Gribnif lates ver
 422 | St_Sutra.Lzh   657385 01-03-93 STSutra ELITE release still beta..
 453 | Uvk5_7  .Lzh   276224 02-01-93 UVK 5.7gb  latest vr
 460 | Falcprgs.Lzh   572035 02-03-93 The Programs included with the
Falcon.
 470 | Icdpro68.Lzh   528187 02-06-93 ICD Boot PRO 6.0.8!
 474 | Tos206B .Zip   148016 02-07-93 TOS 2.06 as a program!
 480 | Calpro_2.Lzh   332815 02-18-93 Calligrapher Professional [2/5].
 481 | Calpro_3.Lzh   305163 02-18-93 Calligrapher Professional [3/5].
 482 | Calpro_4.Lzh   406075 02-18-93 Calligrapher Professional [4/5].
 483 | Calpro_5.Lzh   328443 02-18-93 Calligrapher Professional [5/5].
 494 | Mint_81 .Lzh   407624 02-22-93 mint81
 502 | Neo303_1.Lzh   354937 03-06-93 NeoDesk 3.03 "MASTER" disk [1/3]
 503 | Neo303_2.Lzh   328564 03-06-93 NeoDesk 3.03 "EXTRAS" disk [2/3]
 504 | Neo303_3.Lzh    24763 03-06-93 NeoDesk 3.03 Util disk [3/3]
 514 | Cali3_2 .Lzh   273959 03-13-93 Calligrapher 3, 2/4
 515 | Cali3_3 .Lzh   309849 03-13-93 Calligrapher 3, 3/4
 516 | Cali3_4 .Lzh   504895 03-13-93 Calligrapher 3, 4/4
 531 | Cali3100.Lzh   290501 03-23-93 Caligrapher 3 Pro 100% disk 1 CO/ICS
 535 | Mt101   .Tos   294518 03-24-93 MultiTOS v.1.01
 542 | Atariwx1.Zip   285943 03-27-93 Atari Works 1/2
 543 | Atariwx2.Zip   701987 03-27-93 Atari Works 2/2

Fawlty Towers provides an example of typical desktop publishing products
available on such BBSs:
 
       ////////////////////////         /// ///////////// ///       /// 
      ///         ///      ///         ///      ///       ///     /// 
     ///         ///      ///         ///      ///        ///   /// 
    /////////   ////////////         ///      ///         /////// 
   ///         ///      ///         ///      ///           /// 
  ///         ///      ///   ///   ///      ///           /// 
 ///         ///      ///   ///   ///      ///           /// 
///         ///      ////////////////////////////////////// 
 
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\         \\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\ 
     \\\    \\\      \\\         \\\          \\\      \\\ \\\     \\\ 
      \\\    \\\      \\\         \\\          \\\      \\\ \\\ 
       \\\    \\\      \\\         \\\\\\\\\    \\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\ 
        \\\    \\\      \\\         \\\          \\\   \\\          \\\ 
         \\\    \\\      \\\   \\\   \\\          \\\    \\\        \\\ 
          \\\    \\\      \\\   \\\   \\\          \\\     \\\      \\\ 
           \\\    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\      \\\\\\\\\\ 
 
  *^* (#8) ST DTP *^*

 ### | Filename.Ext   Size     Date   Brief Description                     
 
     |
   1 | Avant   .Lzh   171368 02-11-92 ADvant Vector
   8 | Dp_E1   .Lzh   343016 03-17-92 Insane!!! Didot-professional DTP
[1/2]
   9 | Dp_E2   .Lzh   414822 03-17-92 The best! Didot-Professional DTP
[2/2]
  10 | Siloutte.Lzh   323802 05-11-92 Sillhoutte Vector Graphics/Ray Tracer
  11 | Outline .Lzh   193536 05-13-92 Calamus Outline Art 
  16 | Pgs22_1 .Lzh   322001 07-25-92 Pagestream v2.2 [1/4].
  17 | Pgs22_2 .Lzh   379509 07-25-92 Pagestream v2.2 [2/4].
  18 | Pgs22_3 .Lzh   317627 07-25-92 Pagestream v2.2 [3/4].
  19 | Pgs22_4 .Lzh   428038 07-25-92 Pagestream v2.2 [4/4].
  27 | Ara213  .Lzh   329614 08-06-92 Aribesque 2.13
  34 | Sl_Enga .Lzh   370940 12-17-92 Calamus
  35 | Sl_Eng_B.Lzh   237849 12-17-92 Calamus
  36 | Sl_Eng_C.Lzh   318914 12-17-92 Calamus
  37 | Convec20.Lzh   311683 01-05-93 Convector 2.0
  38 | Cranach1.Lzh   282850 01-05-93 Cool
  39 | Cranach2.Lzh   153775 01-05-93 cool
  40 | Skyplot1.Lzh   248536 01-05-93 SkyPlot disk 1/2
  41 | Skyplot2.Lzh   205589 01-05-93 SkyPlot disk 2/2
  42 | Skyplot3.Lzh   323450 01-05-93 Skyplot disk 3? or 3?
  43 | Cfned22 .Lzh    17227 01-27-93 Takes Serial #'s off Calamus Fonts
  44 | Slmodul2.Lzh    90489 01-27-93 Some Moduals for Calamus
  45 | Genus   .Lzh    80305 02-01-93 Genus v1.78 - Calamus Fonteditor.
  46 | Touchup1.Lzh   362626 02-06-93 Touch Up  disk 1/2
  47 | Touchup2.Lzh   230762 02-06-93 Touch up disk 2/2
  48 | Calpro_1.Lzh   328402 02-24-93 Caligrapher Pro [1/5]
  49 | Calpro_2.Lzh   332815 02-24-93 Cal Pro [2/5]
  50 | Calpro_3.Lzh   305163 02-24-93 Cal Pro [3/5]
  51 | Calpro_4.Lzh   406075 02-24-93 Cal Pro [4/5]
  52 | Calpro_5.Lzh   328443 02-24-93 Cal Pro [5/5]

STampede offers Super Nintendo software, so it's not surprising to find a
good many commercial ST games as well:
                                              ________  ________  _______
                                             /__   __/\/  _____/\/ _____/\
             _______  ______________         \_/  /\_\/ /\____\ /__/\___\/
            /       \/              \      ___/  / / / /_/__    \___   /\
           /    ____/____     ______/\    /_______/\/_______/\//______/ /
          /    /\___\___/    /\_____\/    \_______\/\_______\/ \______\/
         /    / /      /    / /                _  ___ __   _  ___
        /    /_/_     /    / /                 / //_ /_/   /_// /
        \____    \   /    / /                 /_/__// /   / //_/  SYSOP
         \__/    /\ /    / /_________  ______________  _____   \   PAK
           /    / //    / / __  /    \/ __ /  __/ __ \/  __/\
     _____/    / //    / / __  / / / /  __/  __/ /_/ /  __/\/
    /_________/ //____/ /_/ /_/_/_/_/__/\/____/_____/____/\/   CO-SYSOP
    \_________\/ \____\/\_\ \_\_\_\_\__\/\____\_____\____\/     SCYTHE
    ATARI ST/STE/TT                  ___  ___  _____        THE THREAT/ICS
   CONSOLES SNES/SMD                / _ \/ _ \/ ___/\         MR.FLY/ICS
U. S. ROBOTICS 14,400 HST          / _  / _  /__  /\/         SLASH/ICS
     24 HOURS A DAY               /____/____/____/ /         BELGARION/ICS
                                  \____\____\____\/            JPC/ICS

  *^* (#1)  GAMES! GAMES! GAMES!  *^*

 #### Filename.Ext   Size     Date   Brief Description                      
  

  1 Ox_Final.Lzh     4958  1-25-93 Crack of OXYD for ALL Tos +codes printer
  2 Ace_Boot.Zip   2482o5  1-28-93 Space Ace II [1/6].
  3 Make1.Prg      771554  1-28-93 Space Ace II [2/6].
  4 Make2.Prg      8o174o  1-28-93 Space Ace II [3/6].
  5 Make3.Prg      757744  1-28-93 Space Ace II [4/6].
  6 Make4.Prg      816522  1-28-93 Space Ace II [5/6].
  7 Make5.Prg      773416  1-28-93 Space Ace II [6/6].
 17 Grandad.Prg    121942   2-5-93 Grandad... code revealed ClockWork/ICS
 19 Plan9_A.Lzh    446365  2-1o-93 Plan 9 From Outer Space [1/4] -=ELITE=-
 2o Plan9_B.Lzh    694644  2-1o-93 Plan 9 From Outer Space [2/4] -=ELITE=-
 21 Plan9_C.Lzh    559989  2-1o-93 Plan 9 From Outer Space [3/4] -=ELITE=-
 22 Plan9_D.Lzh    46o123  2-1o-93 Plan 9 From Outer Space [4/4] -=ELITE=-
 23 Bat2A.Lzh      494437  2-11-93 BAT II- Disk 1/5 in English
 24 Bat2B.Lzh      513453  2-11-93 BAT II- Disk 2/5
 25 Bat2C.Lzh      453112  2-11-93 BAT II- Disk 3/5
 26 Bat2D.Lzh      533968  2-11-93 BAT II- Disk 4/5
 27 Bat2E.Lzh      479446  2-11-93 BAT II- Disk 5/5
 28 Ics_Bat1.Lzh   519321  2-11-93 BAT 2 Disk 1/5 *german* +-=I.C.S=-+
 29 Ics_Bat2.Lzh   53322o  2-11-93 BAT 2 Disk 2/5
 3o Ics_Bat3.Lzh   46437o  2-11-93 BAT 2 Disk 3/5
 31 Ics_Bat4.Lzh   542978  2-11-93 BAT 2 Disk 4/5
 32 Ics_Bat5.Lzh   5o5595  2-11-93 BAT 2 Disk 5/5
 36 Ics_Sp21.Lzh   487641  2-13-93 Space Crusade II 1/2 cracked by -=ICS=-
 37 Ics_Sp22.Lzh   39834o  2-13-93 Space Crusade II 2/2
 38 Bat_Ii.Zip      1243o  2-13-93 BAT II Complete docs
 41 Ics_Dl3o.Lzh   77o5o8  2-14-93 Dragons Lair III The Curse Of Mordead
 42 Ics_Dl31.Lzh   585584  2-14-93 Dragons Lair III 2/8  -=ICS=-
 43 Ics_Dl32.Lzh   432o33  2-14-93 Dragons Lair III 3/8  -=ICS=-
 44 Ics_Dl33.Lzh   451928  2-14-93 Dragons Lair III 4/8  -=ICS=-
 45 Ics_Dl34.Lzh   517527  2-14-93 Dragons Lair III 5/8  -=ICS=-
 46 Ics_Dl35.Lzh   5o9381  2-14-93 Dragons Lair III 6/8  -=ICS=-
 47 Ics_Dl36.Lzh   6o3781  2-14-93 Dragons Lair III 7/8  -=ICS=-
 48 Ics_Dl37.Lzh   612524  2-14-93 Dragons Lair III 8/8  -=ICS=-
 51 Galaxian.Lzh   163o72  2-15-93 Galaxian
 52 Cyberlzh.Lzh   6276o5  2-16-93 Cyber Assult [ZX/ICS]  *READ FULL DESC*
 56 Ics_Cybr.Lzh   168957  2-21-93 Cyberdome Hoverjet Simulator  -=ICS=-
 58 Rebelion.Zip   33119o  2-22-93 Rebellion  D'Bug release
 64 Ics_Nigl.Lzh   763445  2-28-93 Nigel Manesll cracked by Belgarion/ICS
 65 Ics_Gob1.Lzh   537814   3-2-93 Gobliins II *THE REAL ENGLISH VERSION*
 66 Ics_Gob2.Lzh   65o934   3-2-93 Gobliins II  2/3  -=ICS=-
 67 Ics_Gob3.Lzh   6o82o1   3-2-93 Gobliins II  3/3  -=ICS=-
 72 Grav2.Zip      247252   3-7-93 Grav II
 74 Kil_Mach.Lzh   283892   3-7-93 Killing Machine
 98 Ics_Civo.Lzh   322966  3-19-93 Civilization 1/4 cr. by Belgarion/ICS
 99 Ics_Civa.Lzh   328o17  3-19-93 Civilization 2/4  -=ICS=-
1oo Ics_Civb.Lzh   33o664  3-19-93 Civilization 3/4  -=ICS=-
1o1 Ics_Civc.Lzh   3o3685  3-19-93 Civilization 4/4  -=ICS=-
1o2 Civiliz.Zip     51863  3-19-93 Civilization full docs
1o3 Civhints.Zip    15878  3-19-93 Civilization hints and tips
1o4 Frank.Prg      1461oo  3-2o-93 Frankenstein   CyniX release
1o5 Crys_A.Lzh     23447o  3-2o-93 CRYSTAL KINGDOM DIZZY Disk 1/2
1o6 Crys_B.Lzh     532o62  3-2o-93 CRYSTAL KINGDOM DIZZY Disk 2/2
114 Sleep1.Lzh     781519  3-27-93 Sleep Walker [1/3]  *-CyniX!-*
115 Sleep2.Lzh     774173  3-27-93 Sleep Walker [2/3]
116 Sleep3.Lzh     8o4o2o  3-27-93 Sleep Walker [3/3]
 
I must stress that this is just a small sampling of the kinds of offerings
we found -- and of the boards we investigated.  Most boards (pirate and
legitimate) have separate file areas for different kinds of products (MIDI,
DTP, Applications, Utilities, Games, Docs, Graphic Utilities, etc.).  A BBS

which offers a wealth of Utilities, for example, is likely to have a strong
database in other file categories as well.  Please note that these are just
partial lists from a single file category on each of these boards.  A truly
comprehensive listing would make this article intolerably huge.

The IAAD's membership total fluctuates, but right now we are holding steady
around the 60-member mark.  Products owned or distributed by nearly every
single member were found on one BBS or another during our investigation;
some of our members were victimized by every pirate board we called.

The self-confessed pirate Troed says this about piracy:
 
     ~    I NEVER buy a program without knowing if it is what I      ~
     ~    want .. the ShareWare principle .. but how do I check      ~
     ~    that with commercial software? By pirating them, using     ~
     ~    them .. if I like them, I want the original + manual ..    ~
     ~    I buy it.                                                  ~
          -- Troed on the F-Net, STReport Conference

but contradicts himself a paragraph later:

     ~    I bought my STe for $800 one year ago, if I were to        ~
     ~    registre/buy [sic] all the soft I use I would have to      ~
     ~    pay something around $10000 .. I can't afford that.        ~
          --Troed on the F-Net, STReport Conference           

On the one hand, Troed insists that he merely tries out his pirated
software prior to purchase -- and buys it if he wants it.  But on the other
hand, he _uses_ $10,000 worth of commercial products and _cannot_ afford to
pay for it.  I would concede that it is possible that some software thieves
do use their pirated downloads in the same way that honest people use
commercial demos and shareware...some, but not many.

Developers are well aware of "software collectors".  These are folks who
simply must have a copy of everything, whether it meets their needs or not. 
The majority of software collectors want the real thing, manual and all. 
It's our experience that, because pirate board users have to pay with an
upload (or with money) for each and every download, few will bother to
download programs they don't really want, need, and plan to use.  Because
of this, the majority of downloads from pirate boards must be viewed as
lost potential sales.  And those few pirates who are collectors or who 
find they don't need a particular file will hang onto it and later share it
with others in order to earn upload credits.

We found Warp 9 on nearly every pirate board we called.  CodeHead had
purchased the QuickST kernal used for Warp 9 from Darek Mihocka of Branch
Always Software, and Charles Johnson worked very hard to refine and extend
it in order to deliver to us the indispensable utility Warp 9 has become. 
Like many CodeHead products, Warp 9 is so easy to use that the manual is
not needed for basic use.  Warp 9 sells for $44.95; a purchase like this 
wouldn't put many STers in the poorhouse.  But how many people downloading
this program from a BBS would go to the trouble of ordering it after
"testing it out"?

A good example of the speed at which pirates can destroy the sales
potential of a new release is shown by the upload date on this entry found
on the Rats Nest (the notation "Off" indicates that this file has been
removed, probably when a later version superseded it):

336 | Warp9370.Zip  --Off-- 09-13-92 Warp 9 v. 3.70 - Glendale Release

CodeHead released this version on Saturday, September 12, 1992 at the
Glendale AtariFaire.  By Sunday, before the second day of the show was even
over, it was already in distribution by pirates.  

What about more expensive products?  At $795, Calamus SL by DMC is one of
the pricier offerings on the North American market.  It's a high-end DTP
package requiring or benefitting from an additional investment in
sophisticated Atari hardware, accelerator boards, graphics cards, and a
large-capacity hard drive.

     ~    It was bad enough to discover Calamus SL on just           ~
     ~    about every single "pirate" board that was                 ~
     ~    investigated; it was worse to discover a program           ~
     ~    written specifically to strip out our serialization.       ~
     ~    But the real kicker was to discover our entire 600-        ~
     ~    page manual available for downloading in ASCII.  The       ~
     ~    people that run these boards are criminals and deserve     ~
     ~    to be put in jail.  Their "customers", those that          ~
     ~    frequent these boards, are, at best, petty thieves.        ~
     ~    What disgusts me the most is how many of these             ~
     ~    "customers" would never consider themselves thieves        ~
     ~    even though they are stealing from me, from my family,     ~
     ~    from my company, and from the Atari community at large.    ~
          --Nathan Potechin of DMC

Since the manuals for such extensive programs are truly required in order
to make good use of the product, software thieves will actually go to the
trouble of typing them in or copying them with OCR software (which is also
conveniently available on these BBSs).  Even when a manual is
indispensable, the software pirate may have no need to actually purchase
the program in order to make full use of it.

Expensive products get that way because of development and production
costs.  While the raw materials in a typical software package may cost only
a few dollars, it takes much more than pieces of paper and a disk to make a
commercial product.  Calamus SL cost DMC hundreds of thousands of dollars
for development staff alone, _not_ counting expenses related to the writing
and production of the manual, packaging, marketing, duplication, overhead,
etc.  A share of this expense must be borne by everyone who uses the
program in order to recoup costs and keep development going.  When people
use the program without paying for it, this simply does not happen.

Many ST development firms are essentially one-man shows; the programmer is
also the accountant, the publisher, the editor, the secretary.  Developers
like these are apt to take software theft very personally and feel the
impact very intensely.  One developer's reaction to his product's
proliferation on pirate boards began: "I used to be against capital
punishment..."

     ~    ...It hurts, and I don't mean that strictly in a           ~
     ~    financial sense, either.  We've tried hard, I mean         ~
     ~    _really_ hard, to provide quality software at a            ~
     ~    reasonable price coupled with a customer support           ~
     ~    policy that is second to none...The pirate mentality       ~
     ~    couldn't care less about us and our ideals of customer     ~
     ~    service.  And that hurts.                                  ~
          --John Hutchinson of Fair Dinkum
 
     ~    It's very discouraging to me to see illegal copies of      ~
     ~    Flash II appear on these so-called pirate boards.  I       ~
     ~    wonder if the folks that steal our program understand      ~
     ~    the length of time it took to produce it?  Flash II        ~
     ~    ver. 2.0 took 3 years to create and spent another year     ~
     ~    in beta test.  Version 2.1 took close to another year      ~
     ~    to modify and test.  We're practically giving it away      ~
     ~    as it is!                                                  ~
          --John Trautschold of Missionware

Word Perfect has been public about having dropped future development for
the ST and about the reason for that decision: low sales.  It can't be a
coincidence that Word Perfect for the ST was on many boards we called.  

I doubt that STers are any less honest than owners of other computer
brands, but ours is a small market, and piracy here can hurt developers
much more than on more popular platforms.  If a platform has 10 million
users and 90% of them are pirates, the software developers still have 1
million potential buyers.  On a platform like the ST, with only a few
hundred thousand users at most by comparison, even if _no_one_ stole
software, developers would still only have a few hundred thousand potential
buyers.  In reality, only the most popular products are likely to sell in 
quantities greater than 1000 units in North America.  In the case of a
coveted and respected multi-platform application like Word Perfect, if the
program had not been pirated so many times over, the sales figures might
well have been sufficient to justify further development for the benefit of
ST owners.

     ~    I talked to a couple of shops...and...asked if they        ~
     ~    were interested in carrying any music education stuff.     ~
     ~    They said that they would love to carry some but could     ~
     ~    not sell any education, music, or game software due to     ~
     ~    the fact that if anyone wanted a copy they would pirate    ~
     ~    it...The only thing they have real success at selling      ~
     ~    is applications due to people wanting a printed manual +   ~
     ~    phone support...I didn't make a sale.                      ~
          --Jim Collins of chro_MAGIC

There's a small profit margin in selling computer hardware; dealers depend
on income from software sales to sustain their businesses.  In every area
where large pirate boards flourish, Atari dealers have closed their doors
in spite of a comparatively large installed base of users.  "It got to the
point where I sold only magazines," one former dealer complained.  "They'd
buy the magazines to find out what programs were worth downloading." 
Honest users in these areas are likely to grumble about the loss of the
dealers; pirates grumble, too, because their link to newhardware, service,
and magazines has been lost.  Every dealer lost means fewer hardware sales
for Atari, fewer software sales for developers, fewer new members for users
groups, fewer vendors and attendees at fewer shows.   

With the Atari user base in serious decline, it is more important now than
ever that piracy not be tolerated.  Make no mistake about it: pirated
software is _not_ free.

     ~    Wait-wait-wait... There is nothing positive piracy does    ~ 
     ~    for a computer company. Nor is it anything BUT negative.   ~
     ~    I look at it like this...We can always blame Atari for     ~
     ~    not advertising, but if there were no Atari pirates,       ~
     ~    more software would have been sold, making the computer    ~
     ~    more viable for software companies, which in turn makes    ~
     ~    the computer more desirable for a user. So, basically      ~
     ~    what I'm saying is, the people who love Atari the most,    ~
     ~    (us) are the same people who have been killing it for      ~
     ~    years.  And there was a time when Atari was big            ~
     ~    EVERYWHERE...There was even an Atari dealer here in my     ~
     ~    little town of Lake Wales! That's where I bought my 400!   ~
          -- Fruit-WARE Man on Excalibur II BBS

Ultimately, we all pay for piracy one way or another: Atari, developers,
dealers, and users -- even the pirates.  

2. How it Works

For the uninitiated, let's define some terms.  A "pirate board" is a
Bulletin Board System (BBS) on which copyrighted commercial files are
offered to users for downloading without compensation for the copyright
holder.  Some pirate boards are devoted to this activity almost
exclusively, and sysops running these boards accept only fellow pirates as
users.  Other pirate BBSs have pd/shareware files areas in addition to
hidden commercial areas; honest users of such boards may have access only
to the pd/shareware sections and may be completely unaware of the pirate 
nature of the board.  

Software pirates have a unique lexicon to describe their activities.  Users
allowed into the commercial areas have been granted "elite access".  The
commercial files are referred to as "warez"; elite file areas on some BBSs
include sections on such related topics as pornography, defrauding long
distance carriers, and creating one's own Super Nintendo Entertainment
System cartridges by burning the software into EPROMs.  Callers who take 
without giving back (download without uploading) are called "leeches", and
downloadable files may be referred to as "leechables".  Defrauding the
phone company by using illegal techniques to make long distance calls is a
mainstay of the art of "phreaking".  "Cracked" versions of programs have
the copy-protection and/or registration and serial numbers removed.  "0
day" is the day a commercial product is officially released.  Many pirates
have also adopted a manner of writing which flaunts the rules of our
language, such as swapping lower and upper case, substituting "z" for "s"
and "ph" for "f", etc.

Successful software theft has two basic requirements: a dishonest person
willing to give away a copy of a program he has purchased -- and another
dishonest person willing to accept it.  When this activity takes place on a
Bulletin Board System, a given copy can be distributed rapidly from BBS to
BBS, from user to sysop to user, all over the world.  One person's
willingness to give away that first copy can lead to its possession by
literally thousands of others.  Pirate boards succeed because there are
many people willing to give or take the copies -- and because the sysop
uses strategies calculated to maintain and escalate their involvement.

The pirate sysop sets up his BBS, invests in a high-speed modem and phone
lines, and advertises his number on other BBSs.  When the calls start
coming in, the sysop scrutinizes each would-be user and decides whether or
not to validate the new account and what level of access to allow.  

     ~    I've seen credit applications that made more sense.        ~
          -- Sandy Wilson on GEnie, describing a brief encounter 
             with the new user questionnaire on a BBS running 
             RATSoft ST

     ~    Do you believe in the free distribution of software be     ~
     ~    it copyrighted or not?                                     ~
          -- Fawlty Towers BBS, from the new user questionnaire

The sysop has two major responsibilities: to keep the board running and to
ensure security.  He requires full disclosure from his callers.  He wants
his callers' real names, real addresses, real phones, but he is not likely
to reveal his own name or location.  There is usually an elaborate
questionnaire.  The sysop may call the new user's voice number to check its
authenticity.  He may do thorough background checks with other information
the caller has provided.  He may keep a blacklist of uncooperative or
non-productive callers (leeches) and share it with other sysops.
 
     ~    NEW USERS: IF YOU DON'T DO A NEW USER UPLOAD YOU WILL NOT  ~
     ~    GET ACCESS. IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT A NEW USER UPLOAD IS    ~
     ~    YOU DON'T BELONG ON THIS BBS.                              ~
          -- PAK on STampede BBS

The callers themselves supply the warez which keep the board active.  They
earn credits for uploading, and apply those credits toward future
downloads.  Pressure to upload a file often begins immediately after a new
user's account is validated.  It may even be part of the new user
questionnaire prior to validation.  Typically, a New User Upload is
required before the new user is given full access, including the ability to
download.  Sometimes the sysop will allow the new user to view the files
area on the BBS in order to entice the caller into uploading a commercial 
file.  On other boards, the commercial files area will stay completely
hidden from the new user until after he has proved his worthiness -- and
incriminated himself -- by sharing a commercial program of his own.

Like a kid in a candy store, the caller wants one of everything, but to get
it, he must pay the price.  So he looks at his collection and chooses a
program he hopes will meet with the sysop's approval.  Merely uploading the
program may not be enough to gain elite access; the upload may be judged on
how new it is, whether the board already has a copy, or even whether the
program chosen is useful or well-reviewed.

     ~    You Understand that you MUST keep a 'reasonable' file      ~
     ~    Upload/ Download ratio And  "K-Byte" ratio or your         ~
     ~    Access WILL be Lowered and maybe Deleted!!                 ~
          -- Gold Nugget BBS, from the new user questionnaire

     ~    Donate!  King Arthur has a very reasonable donation        ~
     ~    policy that makes it easily affordable to have             ~
     ~    unlimited download credits...It's so much fun on the       ~
     ~    Atari (and soon to be Falcon) scene now that there's       ~
     ~    no excuse for you to miss out!                             ~
          -- Little Flea on Excalibur II BBS

     ~    ...I started caring, and so the users that DID not post,   ~
     ~    called within 30 days, and sent new files, got kicked      ~
     ~    off.. YOU DON'T [sic] GET NOTHING FOR FREE!!!               ~
          --The Conjurer, sysop of Outer Planes BBS, on the F-Net, 
            Elite Underground Conference

The sysop uses his warez to entice callers, but he may also perfunctorily
ax callers who violate his rules or confidentiality requirements.  The
threat of being cut off from the source keeps the callers uploading on a
regular basis.  The BBS software keeps track of a user's download/upload
ratio; ratios that are unacceptably high on the download side may result in
censure by the sysop or loss of access.  If a user has no files of value 
to offer the sysop, he may be able to gain privileges by sending in a
"donation".  Some sysops forego the euphemisms and announce flatly that
they charge for greater access.

     ~    Does anyone have Trump castle? Im [sic] starting to run    ~
     ~    thin on other boards for credits. I would rather save      ~
     ~    them for the 0 days stuff. If you have it could you        ~
     ~    please u/l it.                                             ~
          --Shadow Master on London Smog BBS

In order to keep his account current, the user may be forced to call in
every few weeks; each call results in a deduction from the user's credit
total, so he's back looking for new files to upload.  If the caller gets
those files from another BBS, he'll get caught up in a never-ending cycle
of uploads and downloads in order to keep his accounts active on all the
boards he calls.  Occasionally, he may have to buy a program outright in
order to upload it.  The caller is reminded of any deficit in his credit
total every time he calls and may be denied access to certain areas until
the total is in the black.

     ~    Well, after being away from the BBS scene for awhile, I    ~
     ~    have finally found an Elite BBS! (Thanks PAK! :). Anyhow,  ~
     ~    please send me BBS #/NUPs for boards that carry elite      ~
     ~    Macintosh or SNES console stuff.                           ~
          -- Nostrildomus on STampede BBS

Some pirate-only BBSs won't allow any but the most serious of callers. 
They may require all users to have 9600-baud modems or greater.  They may
limit 2400-baud callers to less desirable calling hours.  Some require
would-be callers to announce their first upload before being allowed
access; the sysop then decides whether or not this caller will be a
valuable contributor on that basis.  Some require referrals from other
pirate boards.  A twist on this is the New User Password, spread from user
to user.  Boards like the Computer Connection will ask for this "NUP" in 
the new user questionnaire.  If the caller cannot provide it, access is not
granted.  Most boards ask at the very least for the names and numbers of
the boards the new user already calls; a new user who provides incorrect
numbers or fictional board names -- or who lists only legitimate BBSs --
may be denied access.

The sysop's users provide his warez, and the sysop is a direct beneficiary. 
Like a golden goose, a single program keeps giving and giving.  One user
paid for it once, but the sysop can distribute it to other users in trade
for additional warez or money again and again.  The current callers spread
the word about the BBS's offerings to others, thus increasing the number of
users frequenting the board and providing uploads.  Some boards encourage
this by offering download credit for user referrals.
 
While operating a BBS is the least labor-intensive way to accumulate warez,
it may not be the most efficient way to make money.  After all, there's a
whole market of non-modem users out there just waiting to be tapped.  For a
tidy fee, sysops may sell copies of their warez via mail order; through
schemes like these, users can obtain pirated software without the costs of
a high-speed modem and long-distance calls and the pressures of the
upload/download ratio.

3. Paranoia Strikes Deep

All BBS sysops, even the most responsible, put themselves at some risk of
legal complications due to messages, e-mail, and files posted by users.  It
takes a special motivation for a sysop to actually promote and encourage an
illegal activity which increases his risk and liability.  For some, money
or software may be sufficient motivation.  Others may make up for social
inadequacy in their offline lives by taking a leadership role online.  And 
many of these seem to enjoy the power they have over their users.  Like
schoolyard bullies, they control and police their turf with heavy-handed
threats and zero-tolerance judgments, all with the protection afforded by
their anonymity.  On their own BBSs, they call the shots -- and no caller
can challenge them on that.

     ~       """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""         ~
     ~       "  Happy Hideaway BBS is protected under the  "         ~
     ~       "      FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS ACT of 1986     "         ~
     ~       """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""         ~
     ~    Duplication, Re-transmission, or Distribution of any       ~
     ~    part(s) of this BBS is forbidden without the expressed     ~
     ~    written permission of the sysops.                          ~
          --Happy Hideaway BBS

     ~    Re-transmission of material from this BBS is strictly      ~
     ~    forbidden without written permission of the Sysop(s)!!!    ~
          -- The Ghetto! BBS

Some sysops are very protective of their warez.  They want their boards to
be the best, to have the most highly-prized files, to attract the greatest
number of active users.  The sysop may claim that his board is protected by
international copyright laws; that is, he has a copyright on the
_collection_ and he has a right to control the distribution of any part of
it.  A user may download from his BBS, but he'd better not find that user
uploading the same program to a competitor.  In other words, the sysop
contends that he has exclusive rights to the black-market product!
 
     ~    "I agree with these conditions, and I am not a             ~
     ~    member/employee of ANY authority like the Police, or       ~
     ~    anything like that, nor am I an employee of ANY type of    ~
     ~    non-public domain software company, Telephone company      ~
     ~    security or some anti-software piracy organization. I      ~
     ~    hereby legally bind myself to this, by answering YES       ~
     ~    in [sic] at the prompt".                                   ~
          -- The Ghetto! BBS

     ~    This BBS is a PRIVATE SYSTEM.  Only private citizens       ~
     ~    who are not involved in government or law enforcement      ~
     ~    activities are authorized to use it...access to this       ~
     ~    system by ANY law enforcement agency ( Federal, State,     ~
     ~    Local or other), software company, telephone company,      ~
     ~    government agency, or anyone affiliated with the above     ~
     ~    is not allowed.                                            ~
          --London Smog BBS

     ~    Are you registering on this BBS with the sole purpose      ~
     ~    of entrapping or aiding in the entrapment of the SysOp?    ~
          -- DarkWorld BBS 

     ~    "I am not part of ANY law enforcement agency or an         ~
     ~    employer/employee of any NON-Public Domain software        ~
     ~    company, or software publisher."                           ~
     ~    ********************************************************   ~
     ~    *  By typing YES at the PASSWORD prompt you LEGALLY    *   ~
     ~    *  BIND yourself to the provisions listed above.       *   ~
     ~    ********************************************************   ~
          -- Outer Region BBS

Sysops are well aware of the illegal nature of their activity, and they may
go to great lengths to protect themselves from legal action.  Most boards
post disclaimers about the sysop's responsibility for the activities which
take place there.  Others try to compromise the submissability of legal
evidence by requiring investigators to reveal themselves. 

     ~    You have failed to answer a security validation            ~ 
     ~    question properly.                                         ~
          --Paris BBS

In the midst of such paranoia, it's not surprising that most pirate BBS
callers and sysops use pseudonyms.  Frequently a user goes by the same
pseudonym on every board he calls so that his online friends can identify
him, send him e-mail, etc.  We've identified many pseudonym-users in spite
of their attempts to hide their identity.  Here are a few examples of the
thousands of aliases used by callers on pirate boards.  They know who they 
are.  And you may be surprised to find that _you_ know who they are, too:

     RAHMAN                   Clockwork Orange         Stsoft
     Elof                     Zaphod Beeblebrox        Troed
     Hack-Hack                KG                       mr.fly/ics
     Looms                    Hanzon Horizon           Sparky
     Yellow Lightning         PAK                      slash/ics 
     The Piper                The Parsec               The Shamus
     Mouse Master             Overlord                 RoadKill
     The Missing Link         Nightmare                Deadhead Ed
     Little Flea              the threat/ics           jpc/ics
     belgarion/ics            Disease Factory          Frosty
     Sledge                   Archiver                 Spy Guy
     Traveler                 The Dragon Lord          Frogger
     Shadow                   Skinhead                 rhys/ics
     Sparky                   KRS-ONE                  Ice Pirate
     Clueman                  Arthur Dent              DANE
     Goat Slayer              Norstar                  Speed Demon
     Time Warp                Snow Queen               Mr.terry

Who are the people who go by these aliases?  Who calls pirate BBSs and who
runs them?  A 16-year-old high school junior whose supply of British games
multiplied out of control when he added a high-speed modem to his system? 
Yes.  A 32-year-old father of two who in all other ways is the very model
of integrity?  Yes.  The good old boys who bring crates of software to swap
at your users group meeting?  You know it!  A 50-year-old con artist who 
makes thousands of unreported (i.e., tax-free) dollars every year by
convincing others to give him programs to sell?  Absolutely. 

Several hundred software thieves are so active and on so many BBSs that
it's hard to imagine that they have time for anything else.  The thousands
of more casual pirates may have access to only a few boards and call only a
few times a month.  And whether a specific pirate BBS has 50 regular users
or 500, its phone lines are constantly busy.

4. Organized Crime

As with other criminal activity, the big players in software theft have
formed alliances to share files, blacklists, message networks, and other
information.  There are dozens of these organizations, some international
in scope.  For example, The Elite, with world headquarters in the
Netherlands, is headquartered here by the Outer Region BBS in Colorado and 
Dragon's Pub in Quebec.  The Syndicate (TSC) has representative BBSs on
three continents and in both hemispheres; the Happy Hideaway in Florida
serves as its Eastern US headquarters and Outer Region as its Western base,
while the Shire BBS in Chile and the Eagles Nest and Slime City BBSs in
Sweden provide an international link.
 
Cracking organizations are devoted expressly to undermining copy-protection
and registration strategies used in commercial programs.  Outer Planes in
Ohio is the world headquarters for the cracking ring known as CyniX. 
STampede, in Plant City Florida, is the International Cracking Society's
(ICS) US headquarters and features its cracked warez, but these rapidly
spread to other BBSs across the country and so can be found on many other
boards as well.  Cracking rings are often multi-platform in scope; 
individual crackers will work on getting around the copy-protection on the
platform of their choice.  They'll share cracking tips with and seek advice
from ring members working on other platforms.  The Pompey Pirates cracking
ring, headquartered on the Paris BBS in New York City, reportedly has just
one cracker, who goes by the name of Alien, working routinely on the ST,
while cracking rings like ICS include many ST enthusiasts.

ICS, MCA, Section 1, CyniX, and other crackers are very well-connected,
using ultra-high-speed modems and multi-frequency dialers to call all over
the world without long distance fees.  It's not unusual to find a cracker
from one ring visiting the headquarters of another and sharing warez. 
Cracking rings compete vigorously for the first crack of "0 day warez"
(brand new releases), for the most successful crack, for the toughest, 
etc.

Pirate boards have aligned themselves with legitimate networks as well. 
Many of the BBSs on which we discovered commercial files areas are linked
to the F-Net -- and, of course, so are plenty of responsible BBSs.  For
example, according to a CrossNet Conference Node Listing, The Time Warp BBS
(F-Net node 99) serves as the lead node for the "Elite Underground" F-Net
conference, which also includes Starlight BBS (node 287), Darkworld BBS
(node 305), Outer Region BBS (node 469), Steal Your Face (node 489), Outer
Planes (node 558), Gold Nugget BBS (node 622), London Smog BBS (node 632),
Million Dollar Saloon (node 639), Speedy's Raceway (node 689) and H.B. Smog
(node 712).  According to another CrossNet Conference Node Listing, The
Gold Nugget serves as the lead node for The "Pompey Pirates Elite" (not
directly associated with the Pompey Pirates cracking ring mentioned above)
F-Net conference; The Prairie Chip II BBS (node 45), The Blackhole (node
612), The Temple of Doom (node 595), and Spider-man's Web (node 711) are
among the 9 BBSs involved in this conference.  The "Upper Echelon" F-Net
conference ties US and Canadian boards by serving callers on the Gold
Nugget in Ohio, Steal Your Face in New Jersey, Space Station BBS (node 248)
and London Smog in California, Million Dollar Saloon in Texas, Paybax BBS
(node 307) in Delaware, and Aardvarks from Mars (node 38) and Dragon's Lair
(node 87) in Ontario.

Conferences of this kind allow pirates from great distances to "get to
know" each other, to exchange files as well as messages, to solicit calls
to their favorite BBSs.  Participation in these conferences establishes an
online identity; a pirate recognized from his posts on one node of a
conference is likely to be accepted without question when logging on as a
new user on another node in the same conference.

There are also smaller F-Net-related conferences for pirating discussions. 
For example, according to a CrossNet Conference Node Listing, a Local Area
Private Elite Conference with a lead node at the Outer Region links with
three other BBSs in Colorado, including RingWorld (node 643), The Grave
Diggers Tomb (node 186), and BILINE BBS (node 423).  Outer Planes is the
lead node for the 4-node "Console" conference, a message thread devoted to
topics related to pirating SNES and other game console warez.

5. Ill-Begotten Goods, Fawlty Filez...
 
Pirating hurts the entire ST community by discouraging third-party
development, closing down dealerships, and raising software prices.  But is
it a "good deal", at least in the short run, for the pirates themselves? 
Let's ask 'em:
 
     ~    Mock me not!  Civilisation is great.. Except it is         ~
     ~    cracked poorly...Can't win with the Cynix crack...         ~
          --Mark Anthony on Outer Planes BBS

     ~    ...ok, then how do you save????? I love this game, but     ~
     ~    I don't know how to save it.. ahhh                          ~
          --The Conjurer on Outer Planes BBS

     ~    Bad news... using UVK, just found out that the disk has    ~ 
     ~    a VIRUS on it called the 'DIRECTORY WASTER'.  After        ~
     ~    twenty copies of it are made, it wipes out your disk.      ~
     ~    Use UVK to kill the virus, and be careful with swapping    ~
     ~    disks around this one.                                     ~
          --Sparky on Outer Planes BBS

     ~    Has anyone set up Speedo GDOS , I seam [sic] to run        ~
     ~    into probles .. [sic]                                      ~
          --The Mixer on Time Warp BBS

     ~    Can someone please send me a working ASCII import          ~
     ~    module for pagestream. I cant seem to get TEXT files       ~
     ~    to import correctly. Either the text doesnt [sic]          ~
     ~    fill the full width of the screen or I get no              ~
     ~    paragraphs(ALL run together)                               ~
          --Red Dragon on Time Warp BBS

     ~    Has anyone got it to work? I tried to get it to run on     ~ 
     ~    a Floppy based 520ST (1meg) and on my TT030 and on both    ~
     ~    I got 4 bombs!                                             ~
          --The Parsec on Rats Nest BBS

     ~    Has anyone gotten this to load? My install disk just       ~
     ~    freezes. Any ideas?                                        ~
          --Bullshot Xxx on the F-Net, Upper Echelon Conference

     ~    ...my UTIL_2.PRG doesn't work, it was corrupt in the       ~
     ~    original download...                                       ~
          --Jason Elite on the F-Net, Upper Echelon Conference

     ~    For some reason I can't get other vers. of TOS to boot     ~
     ~    from the HD without sticking a disk in with the HD boot    ~
     ~    in the Auto folder. ANYONE know how I can get TOS 1.4      ~
     ~    and 1.0 to off the HD and recognize the hard drive         ~
     ~    without sticking a disk in?...It's just a hastle [sic]     ~
     ~    to use the Hard Drive when you have to boot from disk      ~
     ~    first...                                                   ~
          --Ice Pirate on Rats Nest BBS

     ~    I have the two lharc's of Epic, and after lharc, they      ~ 
     ~    come out to 900+K MSA files... Well, MSA won't format      ~
     ~    a disk large enough to put them on..  What kind of         ~
     ~    formatting program can I use to format my disks that       ~
     ~    large.. Or can I?                                          ~
          --Cronos on Fawlty Towers BBS

     ~    I was wondering if anyone else has been messing with       ~ 
     ~    the latest Cubase 3 crack. I've had some success and       ~
     ~    have even used the SMPTE options via my C-Lab              ~
     ~    Unitor-N box, but when I try to use the "edit" functions   ~
     ~    more than a few times (sometimes even the first try),      ~
     ~    I get an "Internal Error" message and the program locks.   ~
          --MIDIMUCK on Fawlty Towers BBS

     ~    I wouldn't use it if your [sic] working on a paying gig,   ~ 
     ~    Just cause It's unreliable, especially when in SMPTE lock. ~
     ~    I've had this same problem recently, I ended up x-fering   ~
     ~    the stuff over to another sequencer.                       ~
          --KG on Fawlty Towers BBS, replying to MIDIMUCK about the
            cracked version of Cubase 3

     ~    Yes, there are 2 different cracks of version 3.x, none     ~
     ~    of them working properly. The best Cubase crack I know     ~
     ~    is version 2. I heard though that it gives problems        ~
     ~    when you use Midiex...                                     ~
          --X-tian on Fawlty Towers BBS

     ~    yeah, I would [sic] do any real work on it.  I lost 2      ~
     ~    songs with it.                                             ~
          --KG on STampede BBS, replying to a message about a 
            cracked version of Cubase

     ~    Has anybody had a problem with the Cynix crack of          ~
     ~    Frankenstein? I haven't been able to get it to work on     ~
     ~    either of my computers. It bombs badly.                    ~
          --PAK on STampede BBS

     ~    I've been having problems with some files I D/Led          ~
     ~    (Ultima 6 is flaky and Lost Vikings doesn't work at        ~
     ~    all).                                                      ~
          --Nostrildomus on STampede BBS

     ~    I sure wouldn't even attempt any 'serious' work project    ~
     ~    with that 'crack'...                                       ~
          --Sparky on STampede BBS

     ~    Do you have a version of NEW ZEALAND STORY which works     ~ 
     ~    past the first city?                                       ~
          --The Shamus on STampede BBS

     ~    HEY!! Will someone PLEASE UPLOAD a FULLY working version   ~ 
     ~    for KOBOLD 2 I've had so many different version from       ~
     ~    different people and they are  ALL bad !!!                 ~
          --Sidewinder on Outer Region BBS

     ~    I have an elite copy of Calligrapher and it doesn't        ~
     ~    support ASCII text files, so you can only work with        ~
     ~    .CAL files (files made by Calligrapher)  Also it doesn't   ~
     ~    have keyboard equivalents (a pain)                         ~
          --Frogger on the F-Net, Elite Underground Conference 

Pirates aren't entitled to support from commercial developers and are often
working without any documentation, so they are very likely to encounter
problems with their warez.  

The real version of Calligrapher, for example, has several import and
export options, including ASCII.  It has configurable keyboard commands. 
Frogger's version might have been hacked in a way which destroyed these
capabilities, or he simply might not know how to take advantage of them
because he has no documentation or support.  

When pirates spread disinformation about the warez they use, people may
think they are speaking out of knowledge of the actual commercial release. 
In this way, a pirate's ill-informed comments about products can discourage
sales to others.

The software they use -- like the sysops and other pirates with whom they
associate -- cannot be trusted.  Cracked software is prone to be flakey. 
And the same type of people who think it's acceptable to crack and steal
software are also the type who write viruses and unleash them on others, so
even files which haven't been cracked must be viewed with suspicion.

In addition to the fear of loss of access, the pressure to upload or pay,
lack of official and informed support, an online environment of suspicion
and paranoia, and abandonment of ethical principles, pirates must also
contend with software that is unreliable and potentially dangerous.  The
pirate pays a heavy price.  Pirated software is _not_ free -- for anybody.

6. Phreaking, Copyright Infringement, Pornography, and the Law

The users pay the sysop of a pirate board, either by sending a check for
greater access or by offering up files they've purchased in exchange (or
both).  Heavy users must invest in expensive hardware, such as high-speed
modems.  And for many callers, there's a long-distance charge.

     ~    If any of the USA callers has MCI you can put this bbs     ~
     ~    on you [sic] Friends and Family list and save yourself     ~
     ~    about 3 cents a minute. Just say that the phone number     ~
     ~    is for a data line and they usually don't ask anymore      ~
     ~    questions.                                                 ~
          -- PAK on STampede BBS

     ~    ...there are high speed users around, and considering      ~
     ~    other really good Atari boards are out of state, $.25      ~
     ~    per call is as cheap as anyone could ask for. I'm          ~
     ~    starting to think "elite" is dead in the Tampa area,       ~
     ~    as far as Atari is conserned [sic].                        ~
          --PAK on Master Lazarus BBS, explaining the poor 
            attendance rates by local pirates on local BBSs

     ~    Wanted... original suppliers                               ~
     ~              graphic artists                                  ~
     ~              another support bbs                              ~
     ~              calling card suppliers                           ~
          --Quattro of the CyniX cracking ring on the F-Net, 
            Elite Underground Conference

     ~    When I hit a special key, my Bluebox plays a little        ~
     ~    melody.....                                                ~
          -- STampede BBS

     ~    I call the whole world for the same price.                 ~
          -- Troed on Rats Nest BBS

Not all those living far from a BBS pay long distance charges, however. 
Some boards share calling card numbers (belonging to innocent victims,
presumably) so that the phone company will charge the users' calls to
someone else.  Sometimes users as far away as Chile or Sweden manage to
make calls at no cost by fooling and defrauding their long distance
carriers.  In the old days (defined here as the 70's), this was achieved by
building a "bluebox" and installing it in one's phone line.  Today, it's 
easily done in software.  The caller's ST simulates the tones recognized by
the telephone system.  Calls are routed all over the world and back,
typically through South America, in order to confuse the system and avoid
detection.  This activity is just as illegal as copyright infringement, and
it's also better understood as a crime by police.  Many times a pirate
board is closed down not because of the illegal transfer of software, but 
rather because information on blueboxes was available for download.
 
     ~    Word is around town that there are feds looking for        ~
     ~    Pirate BBS's. I know weather to belive [sic] it but        ~
     ~    it could be time for another big bust like there was       ~
     ~    four years ago. Supposedly a Big BBS in OHIO just got      ~
     ~    nailed real bad!. Freaky as hell.                          ~
          --Mind Eye on Thieves Guild BBS

There are, in fact, many approaches to shutting down pirate boards. 
Copyright infringement is one obvious track.  The Software Publishers
Association is a watchdog agency which works with the FBI to shut down
large-scale BBS operations.  There are legal departments at major computer,
game machine, and software companies devoting time and effort to this task. 
There's the IRS connection for unreported caller "donations".  Some boards
come down because of the availability of pornography.  There are a variety
of criminal laws related to activities common on pirate boards, and,
especially in cases of copyright infringement, civil law may offer the most
effective route to compensation for the victims.

When a board is busted by the authorities, the related equipment and
property is usually seized.  Any records of callers, caller donations,
etc., are seized along with that equipment.  Callers could be charged with
conspiracy.  For this reason, it's not wise to have one's real name,
address, and real phone show up in the records of a pirate board, even
though the sysop adamantly insists upon it and uses verification checks to
enforce it...  

7. Spotting a Pirate Board

     ~    Many people may not realize that software pirates cause    ~
     ~    prices to be much higher, in part, to make up for          ~
     ~    publisher losses from piracy.  In addition, they ruin      ~
     ~    the reputation of the hundreds of legitimate bulletin      ~
     ~    boards that serve an important function for computer       ~
     ~    users.                                                     ~
          --Ken Wasch, Executive Director of the SPA, as quoted in
            STR #915 

I recently logged on to the Polish Hideout BBS in Southern Illinois.  What
a contrast it presented to the pirate boards I've been investigating!  The
questionnaire asked only for my name, contact information, and type of
computer.  Validation was immediate and I was granted access to all message
bases and file areas on that very first call!  I wasn't under any
obligation to upload before downloading.  There was no pressure to
compromise my principals nor temptation to indulge in criminal activity.  
The messages from the sysop were friendly and inviting.  The Polish Hideout
is _not_ a pirate BBS.

It can be tough to differentiate a pirate board from a legitimate one if
one has not been granted access to the elite areas.  Sometimes non-elite
discussion or file areas can provide hints, but it's not sure-fire.  For
example, although many pirate boards can boast of extensive pornography
collections, some BBS sysops who wouldn't tolerate commercial files will
nevertheless offer pornography; the existence of pornographic files does
not in and of itself indicate a pirate board or clientele.  Even the
existence of an isolated commercial file in the downloads is not evidence
of intentional piracy.  From time to time, every BBS receives a commercial
upload or two; sometimes the sysop overlooks the file or doesn't recognize
it as commercial and leaves it in the download area.  Such oversights and
accidents do not even remotely correspond to the kinds of activity we have
encountered on BBSs where software theft is encouraged.

A typical pirate board includes a highly aggressive (and often hostile and
suspicious) new user questionnaire.  It is often necessary to provide
referrals of some kind, and the questions are likely to assume dishonesty
on the part of the new user.  Pirates, as a rule, are not nice guys, and
the new user is usually made to feel very uncomfortable.  The new user may
be required to "sign" disclaimers.  The Other BBS list is likely to include
some other pirate boards.  If the users adopt the lexicon of piracy
("elite", "warez", "philez", etc.), If ThErE aRe LoTs Of PhRaSeS wRiTtEn
LiKe ThIs, if the board associates itself with a pirate syndicate or
network, if it has numerous known pirates as callers, if there is
aggressive insistence on the maintenance of download/upload ratios, if
deadbeats are threatened with loss of access, if phreaking files are
available online, chances are very good that the caller has stumbled onto a
pirate BBS.

There are legitimate reasons why a BBS sysop might want accurate contact
information from his callers.  There are also good reasons in many cases
for offering a few private file and message areas.  Most BBSs, pirate and
legitimate, require validation, usually by phoning the caller's number. 
Such features are not unusual, but if combined with heavy-handed warnings
and threats, they tip the user off to the nature of the board.  It should
be noted that legitimate pd/shareware BBSs far outnumber the pirate boards. 
The confusion between the two is most unfortunate.

     ~    I...have callers uploading commercial software and         ~
     ~    giving me a hard time because I don't have an "elite"      ~
     ~    area, even though they see a message when they log on      ~
     ~    as a new caller that this board does not support           ~
     ~    piracy...It's a _risk_ to run a BBS, and not many ways     ~
     ~    to protect the investment.                                 ~
          --sysop of a legitimate BBS

If a board you call has an occasional commercial file, be sure to point it
out to the sysop for his own protection; a responsible sysop will avoid
commercial offerings.  PD/shareware BBSs perform a much-needed service in
supporting our Atari community; the IAAD applauds and encourages this
effort.

If you suspect -- or _know_ -- that a board you call offers numerous
commercial files, however, please bring it to the attention of the IAAD
(online addresses are available at the end of this article).  Your
anonymity is assured.  We are already intimately familiar with dozens of
boards, but additional information is always welcome.

8. The Moral Toll: As the Twig is Bent...

     ~    Right and wrong now seem the same                          ~
          -- Rats Nest

As a parent, I'm concerned about the numbers of young people logged on to
pirate boards.  These kids put themselves in a very vulnerable position. 
In earning their right to download, young callers are implicated in the
illegal activity.  The adults who run and participate on these boards set
an example which could, by extension, lead to ignoring the laws which
govern other areas of their lives.  Do these kids also shoplift, steal from
other kids' lockers, buy termpapers to submit as their own?  Children learn
to run and to use pirate boards from adults whose character is questionable
by definition.  When a child has such a sysop as a role model, what does
that spell for his future?

Like the proverbial stranger who offers candy, these criminals lure
teenagers and young adults with promises of free software in exchange for
their services.  The service, of course, is to provide more free software
-- which the sysop can then use to lure more callers and to keep his
current clientele calling back.  The first step is to inspire fear; this is
achieved right off the bat with a new user questionnaire threatening denial
of access if caller doesn't provide just the right answers.  And the second
is to force the caller to incriminate himself with his initial upload. 
Once the kid begins downloading and playing commercial games he could never
afford to buy, the pressure cycle of upload/download counts begins.

     ~           GENESIS COPIER (super magic drive)                  ~
     ~    My son is selling his copier for the Genesis for:          ~
     ~    $275.00  That includes the copier, drive and power         ~
     ~    supply.                                                    ~
          --Little Lulu on the F-Net, Pompey Pirates Elite
            Conference

While many of the software thieves we've encountered are young, in their
teens and early twenties, others are old enough to be parents (or even
grandparents!).  Few pirate boards have an "educational warez" category in
their files areas, so my own products are rarely found, but parents do
download plenty of games.  I wonder about the children who use the programs
that Dad or Mom has stolen.  Do they know that the program could be 
purchased with a manual?  Do they learn about hidden features from friends
who have the real thing and then wonder why their parents never told them
they could do that?  If and when these children do learn that Dad has
stolen some software they've enjoyed, do they respect and trust their
father less -- or do they simply adopt his dishonest character as their
own?

     ~    Pirating is dishonest.  Honorable people don't do          ~
     ~    dishonest things.  If you want to publicly proclaim your   ~
     ~    untrustworthyness [sic], go right ahead.  But don't        ~
     ~    expect anyone to ever trust you.  Or respect _your_        ~
     ~    rights.                                                    ~
          -- Myeck Waters, responding to a pro-piracy post on the 
             F-Net, STReport Conference
 
     ~    BYE! (Click)                                               ~
     ~    NO CARRIER                                                 ~
          -- Computer Connection

_________________

The author takes no responsibility for errors in spelling, punctuation,
judgment, or logic in quotations; these are reprinted as written.

Copyright 1993 by D.A. Brumleve
 
This file may be transmitted only in its entirety, with all portions
unedited and intact.  The author reserves _all_ rights regarding
distribution and republication, with the exception that this file may be
posted in its entirety and without additions on BBSs everywhere, especially
on pirate boards.  If you find it already posted on your local pirate
board, please upload a second copy, and a third...

Editors and others wishing to republish this article are advised to contact
the IAAD and the author on the major online services:

                               GEnie: PERMIT$
                               CIS:76004,3655
                             Delphi:DABRUMLEVE

The IAAD welcomes tips about pirate activity.  Please contact us at the
online addresses listed above.


    ___________________________________________________________________





> PIRACY & WHAT'S BEING DONE! STR FOCUS! A Comprehensive look at the Report
  """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""



                       PIRACY IN THE ATARI COMMUNITY
                            WHAT'S BEING DONE TO
                       COMBAT THIS ONGOING TRAVESTY?

part I

by Dana P. Jacobson

     
     Piracy, the illegal transmission and/or possession of copyrighted
software, continues to be a major problem in today's computer marketplace. 
It's a subject which appears to come up rarely these days, an almost taboo
subject.  On occasion, one can read a message thread or two on various
online services and our local bulletin boards about the subject, but the
discussion soon dies out as quickly as it appears.

     Until fairly recently, there was little that could be done without  
major effort by developers and software houses.  In the Atari community,
with the market being so small, it's been really difficult to make an
all-out effort to eradicate this disease; or to even make a dent in it. 
Atari people don't seem to have the resources to make such an effort. 
Within the past year or so, the SPA (Software Publishers Association) has
made _some_ headway into this problem.  Within the past few months,
STReport has reported numerous BBSs and businesses charged with piracy and
copyright infringement.  Loss of software and hardware, along with heavy
fines have been the penalty - rightfully so.  But still, piracy continues. 
Is anything _seriously_ being done about it by people who _can_ help make a
difference?  The answer, finally, is yes!

     A few weeks ago, while perusing messages that I downloaded from
STReport's support BBS, "The Bounty", I came across a few messages from an
(alleged) Atari user/developer from Australia (or was it the U.K.?).  He(?)
made a number of comments in which he blatantly admitted to using pirated
copies of software in a manner to "justify" a "Try before you buy"
mentality.  He also used many other rationalizations to justify his "right"

to pirate software.  It's been a long time since I've seen such open and
blatant pro-piracy messages, that I had to respond.  What I got in return
was more "justification" for piracy.  After a few rounds of message
replies, I knew it was pointless to keep at it.

     Ironically, I received an E-Mail message from Dorothy Brumleve,
president of the IAAD, a few days later.  She happened to see the message
thread via the FNET, and commented on the exchange of messages.  Little did
I know at the time, that she and the rest of the IAAD members were in the
process of investigating the problems of piracy in our Atari community.

     Early on last week, Dorothy posted an article describing some of the
results of the IAAD's ongoing investigation.  As a long-time Atari user
_and_ the SysOp of my own legitimate BBS, I was floored at the findings! 
Not only was the information gathered done in so little time, but so
easily.  I've come across occasional pirated software on a few boards I've
encountered over the years, and I've experienced pirated programs being
uploaded to my own board at times; but never anything to the degree in
which I saw presented in that article!  This was something that I had only
imagined happening, and unchecked.

     I had always thought that it was bad enough that Atari developers and
dealers were falling by the wayside due to problems with Atari supporting
our community.  With little new software and hardware being produced, it's
difficult for our remaining developer and dealer base to keep supporting
the Atari platform.  But, I now also see that piracy also plays a _major_
factor in dwindling sales.  We may not be able to play a major role in
changing Atari's habits, but we can certainly do our share in helping our
Atari developers lessen some of the damage caused by piracy!

     We at STReport applaud the recent efforts by the IAAD to take a stand
and make a strong effort to eradicate our community of this disease.  We
applaud the IAAD for making us aware that the problem still exists, and
that this is something that we _all_ need to realize is a problem needing
support.  In the next few issues, we'll bring you portions of the IAAD
article by Dorothy Brumleve, along with commentary, suggestions, and
support.  We suggest that you _all_ read this IAAD article (called
PIR_BBS.ASC) and then read it again.  Piracy affects us all, in one form or
another.  You may not see it obviously, but it does.  We'll discuss these
and other factors along the way.

     Because of the length (read comprehensive) of Dorothy Brumleve's
article, I'm only going to include excerpts throughout this series of
articles appearing in these pages.  Anything that you see _without_ a
reference marker means I'm directly quoting from Dorothy's article.  Any of
my comments, etc. will be "blocked" in asterisks (***) for clarity.  We'll
start with Dorothy's introduction to the article:

This article is the result of contributions by people from every facet of
the Atari community.  Many thanks to all the users, developers, sysops, and
others who provided the investigators with information and assistance.

[Note: Stand-alone quotations are framed on the left and right by 
the "~" character.] 

                  Small Developers, Big Business
      How Pirate BBSs Impact on the Entire Atari Community
                by D.A. Brumleve, President, IAAD
                 Copyright 1993 by D.A. Brumleve

The Independent Association of Atari Developers represents over sixty
companies supporting the Atari ST platform with commercial software and
hardware.  Now and then a "pirate" BBS will come to our members' attention. 
We'll capture the file areas and study them.  We'll cringe at the download
counts and growl at the messages about our products.  We'll download copies
of our products and trace the original owner.  Sometimes we'll even file 
a police report, but the pirate board stays up and callers keep calling,
downloading, and uploading our programs.  

***
     Listed in the above article is just a small portion of what Dorothy
stated was a "sampling" of files found on the few BBSs she listed in her
article.  The investigation includes a much wider assortment of files and
pirate systems.  From just the above, it's obvious to everyone that the
severity of this problem exists.  Just these files above constitute
thousands of dollars of lost revenue for all our dealers and developers!! 
Also, before anyone comes out and says what I know many are thinking, yes,
this is just an ASCII listing of files.  We all know that such lists can be
created and modified to typify a download listing from any BBS.  A captured
list such as this, by itself, has little chance of leading to prosecution. 
But, the IAAD investigators followed through on these listings and
_downloaded_ and _verified_ that the files exist.  The IAAD is going all
out to put these pirate boards out of business!!
***

The IAAD's membership total fluctuates, but right now we are holding steady
around the 60-member mark.  Products owned or distributed by nearly every
single member were found on one BBS or another during our investigation;
some of our members were victimized by every pirate board we called.


     ~    It was bad enough to discover Calamus SL on just           ~
     ~    about every single "pirate" board that was                 ~
     ~    investigated; it was worse to discover a program           ~
     ~    written specifically to strip out our serialization.       ~
     ~    But the real kicker was to discover our entire 600-        ~
     ~    page manual available for downloading in ASCII.  The       ~
     ~    people that run these boards are criminals and deserve     ~
     ~    to be put in jail.  Their "customers", those that          ~
     ~    frequent these boards, are, at best, petty thieves.        ~
     ~    What disgusts me the most is how many of these             ~
     ~    "customers" would never consider themselves thieves        ~
     ~    even though they are stealing from me, from my family,     ~
     ~    from my company, and from the Atari community at large.    ~
          --Nathan Potechin of DMC

Since the manuals for such extensive programs are truly required in order
to make good use of the product, software thieves will actually go to the
trouble of typing them in or copying them with OCR software (which is also
conveniently available on these BBSs).  Even when a manual is
indispensable, the software pirate may have no need to actually purchase
the program in order to make full use of it.

***
     Truer words were never spoken.  We can blame anyone we wish for the
dismal status of today's Atari market, but in no way does piracy justify
making things worse.  People need to realize that piracy is _not_ an
acceptable mode of behavior, no matter how secretive it stays in the
background.  Piracy needs to be fully exposed whenever and wherever it
occurs, and those involved be made to make amends.
***

     This is the first of an ongoing series of articles.  Next week we'll
include more of the IAAD article and comments from the STReport staff, and
hopefully, from some of our readers.  STReport will do whatever it can to
help support this investigation and educate the Atari community of this
immense problem.


       _____________________________________________________________




> BLUE RIDGE ATARIFEST'93 STR SHOW NEWS    "The Summertime Atari Event!"
  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""



 
                         1993 Blue Ridge ATARIFEST
                         """""""""""""""""""""""""



 
 FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION
 """"""""""""""""""""""""""

The Blue  Ridge  Atari Computer  Enthusiasts  (BRACE) and  Computer  Studio
invite you  to participate  in the  Fourth Annual Blue  Ridge AtariFest  in
beautiful Asheville, North Carolina.  Show dates and times are:


                     Saturday July 24, 1993  10am - 6pm
                     Sunday   July 25, 1993  Noon - 5pm


Just as in previous years, we have arranged for FREE  Booth space for Atari
developers!!  (We're only requesting the donation of a door prize).

We can promise  both developers  and show-goers an  energetic and  exciting
show with as enthusiastic a crowd of Atarians as you'll find anywhere, plus
the support of Computer Studio in the mall.

We're once again  taking over the  Courtyard Shop (mall)  area at  Westgate
Shopping Center for the show (location of Computer Studio), plus the use of
vacant  store spaces  for seminar  sessions.   Seminar sessions will  be 45
minutes in length, and developers are welcome to conduct a seminar on their
product  line or  approved  topic of  their  choice (seminar  sessions  are
limited, so first come, first served).

This year's show  dates also  coincide with Asheville's  annual Bele  Chere
street festival, when downtown Asheville is closed to vehicular traffic and
becomes what  must be  one  of the  largest street  fairs  in the  country.
Westgate  Shopping  Center is  one  of  the primary  Park-and-Ride  shuttle
centers for transporting people to and from downtown, and we've arranged to
have the shuttle service pick up at the front entrance of the mall and drop
off at the rear entrance, so everyone taking the service from Westgate WILL
walk through the  AtariFest exhibition area sometime during the  day.  This
will be a  great opportunity to showcase  Atari and Atari related  software
and  peripherals, and  introduce them  to people  who aren't  already Atari
owners.  Bringing in NEW blood is  the key to the growth of this  platform,
and  this will  be our  opportunity to  begin that  process with  a captive
audience.

Additional  discussions of  the  show, as  well  as confirmations  of  your
participation, are welcome in GEnieMail and in the Blue Ridge
AtariFest topic 13 in Category 11 here on GEnie.

               HOPING TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON.
                         HAPPY ATARI COMPUTING.
                                   IT'S HAPPENING IN ASHEVILLE!


Where: Westgate Shopping Center - Asheville, N.C.

Take any  major highway into  Asheville (US  19-23, US 26  or I-40) to  the
I-240  loop,  then  take the  "Westgate/Hilton  Inn  Drive  exit" into  the
Westgate Shopping Center parking lot.

                            When: 24-25, July 1993
                          Time: 10:am to 6:pm SAT
                               12 Noon 'til 5pm SUN

Points of contact:



                  Come for a day or come for the weekend,
                      but do come and enjoy yourself.


Great Smokies Hilton Resort  Hilton Inn Drive        (704)254-3211
                 Toll-free reservation phone number 1-800-733-3211


Radisson                    One Thomas Wolf Plaza    (704)252-8211
                 Rate: $62.00 per room (1-4 people)


          ====== Additional Hotel / Motel Information ===========

Days Inn                       I-26 and Airport Road     (704)684-2281
                               I-40 Exit 55              (704)298-5140

Econo Lodge                    US 70 East, I-40 Exit 55  (704)298-5519

Holiday Inn                    275 Smoky Park Hwy        (704)667-4501
                   Toll-free reservation phone number    1-800-HOLIDAY

Red Roof Inn                   I-40 and US 19-23 Exit 44 (704)667-9803
                   Toll-free reservation phone number   1-800-843-7663

Budget Motel                    I-40 Exit 44 (Enka-Chandler)
                                  West Asheville Exit    (704)665-2100 Best
Western Asheville Central  22 Woodfin St                 (704)253-1851

       ========= Local Bed & Breakfast lodging Information =========

Aberdeen Inn                64 Linden Ave                (704)254-9336
Albemarle Inn               86 Edgemont Road             (704)255-0027
Applewood Manor             62 Cumberland Circle         (704)254-2244
The Bridle Path Inn        Lockout Road                  (704)252-0035
Cairn Brae B & B           217 Patton Mountain Rd        (704)252-9219
Carolina B & B             177 Cumberland Ave            (704)254-3608
Cedar Crest Victorian Inn  674 Biltmore Ave              (704)252-1289
Corner Oak Manor            53 St. Dunstan               (704)253-3525
Cornerstone Inn            230 Pearson Dr                (704)253-5644
Flint Street Inn           100 & 116 Flint Street        (704)253-6723
The Lion and The Rose      276 Montford Ave              (704)255-7673
The Ray House B & B         83 Hillside St               (704)252-0106
Reed House                 119 Dodge St                  (704)274-1604
The Wright Inn             235 Pearson Drive             (704)251-0789]
                                                         (1-800-552-5724)

A more complete listing of Bed & Breakfasts can be obtained through the
Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce.

Reservations should be made immediately, as July is the height of our
tourist season.


                 ===========  CAMP GROUNDS ================

           (reservations are a must during this time of season):

Mount Pisgah:
     About 20 miles  southwest of Asheville  on the  Blue Ridge Parkway  at
mile post 408.6 (National Park Service). 690 acres. Elevation 5000'. One of
the nicest  campgrounds in  Western North Carolina.  67 tent  sites, 70  RV
sites. For reservations: P.O.Box 749, Watnesville, N.C. 28786;  phone (704)
235-9109. No showers.  Groceries and  restaurant. Nature program.   14  day
stay limit.

Lake Powhatan:
     4 miles south of  Asheville on State  road 191, 3.5  miles west on  SR
806.  30  acres.  98  tent/rv  sites.  Reservation  available  thru  Mistix
1-800-283-CAMP. Disposal station. No showers. Swimming; lifeguard; fishing;
nature trails; bicycles. 14-day stay limit.

     While in the area,  you might want  to consider a little  sightseeing,
and include  a visit to the  Biltmore House here in  Asheville (the largest
single family residence ever built in the U.S.--its a "castle"). A visit to
the Biltmore can  be a full-day's  activity as  you will want  to view  the
house, visit the winery, and walk some of the grounds and gardens.

Hours:

          The House 9 am to 6pm         The Gardens 9am to 7pm
                         Conservatory 9am to 5:30pm 
          The Winery Monday-Saturday   11am to 7pm Sunday 1pm to 7pm

     Other areas of interest include; the Thomas Wolf home (adjacent to the
Raddison),  the Blue Ridge Parkway and Folk Art Center. A drive up the Blue
ridge Parkway  to enjoy the higher  elevations and incredible views  of our
mountains.  Perhaps  a hike  up  to  Mount Pisgah  and  look  back down  to
Asheville(you can see Mt. Pisgah from most anywhere in Asheville).  A short
drive from Mt.  Pisgah will  take you  to Sliding  Rock (for  those of  you
travelling with kids who are  still kids at heart), the Cradle  of Forestry
(first  forest school in the country), waterfalls, trout hatchery, etc. For
the adventurous, white  water rafting   on the  Natahala River near  Bryson
City (approx one and a half hours from here).

     There's  obviously loads  more  to see  and  do around  Asheville  (in
addition to the Blue Ridge AtariFest and a visit to Computer Studio :-). If
any  of y'all would  like maps  and additional tourist  info of the  area I
might suggest contacting the Chamber of Commerce:

                     Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce
                             151 Haywood Street
                               P.O. Box 1010
                            Asheville, NC 28802
                      704-258-6111 FAX: (704)251-0926


    ___________________________________________________________________



> NVN WANTS YOU! STR InfoFile       Another Network Supports Atari!
   """""""""""""""""""""""""""

                      NVN - THE NEW KID ON THE BLOCK!
                      ===============================


     The  Atari computer  platforms has  support on  yet another  top notch
     telecommunications service!  National Videotex Network (NVN) maintains
     an area just for our favorite computers.  Type GO ATARI

     Order  an extended NVN  Membership of  6 or 12  months, pay  for it in
     advance and receive  a bonus in connect time at  no additional charge.
     Choose from two subscription plans:

                             6-Month Membership
                             ==================

     Pay just $30 for a 6-month Membership and receive a  usage credit that
     entitles you  to $15 of  connect-time in the Premium  services of your
     choice. Your total savings using this plan would be over $20!*

                            12 Month Membership
                            ===================

     Pay  $50 for  a full  year's Membership  and get  even more  free time
     on-line.   We'll give you a $25  usage credit to use  in your favorite
     premium services or try out new ones. You could save as much as $45.*

     NVN now offers  Electronic Funds Transfer  (EFT). For  a $2 per  month
     service  charge,   customers  may   have  their  NVN   online  charges
     automatically debited  from their personal checking  accounts.  Please
     contact Client Services for this new feature!

             For more information about either of these plans..
                         Please, give us a call at;
                              1-800-336-9096.


                          *** 9600 BAUD USERS! ***
            *** $6/hour non-prime time - $9/hour prime time ***

                    You can join NVN one of two ways...
              By voice phone 1-800-336-9096 (Client Services)
                                   or via
                        modem phone 1-800-336-9092.

                               NVN Highlights
                               --------------

 1. For the newcomers....
 2. *** RECEIVE A $10 USAGE CREDIT FOR EACH NEW MEMBER YOU BRING US!! ***
 3. Get your copy of DOS 6.0 Upgrade - FREE -!
 4. HALF PRICE SALE for Training files for all of April. No fooling...
 5. TV Buffs! Win a free hour online in the Television Forum during April!
 6. The Fishing Forum needs anglers to test new fishing lures...FREE!!!
 7. Check out the new Technology & Quality Management Forum...
 8. Win free connect time and other prizes playing Fantasy Baseball!
 9. Connect with other Teens - Wednesday nights at 9:00 pm (EDT)...
10. TAX TIME...ARGH!!! Type <GO ACCOUNTING> for immediate relief!
11. Expand your knowledge of law from the comfort of your home...
12. Refer to NVN for all of your reference needs...
13. Enjoy NVN services while saving time and money!


      _______________________________________________________________




> STReport CONFIDENTIAL    "Rumors Tidbits Predictions Observations Tips"
  """""""""""""""""""""



- San Luis Obispo, CA                  FALCON TO SHARE STACY'S FATE?
  -------------------
  
     The discontinued Atari Stacy, the Laptop portable computer that was
built like a tank and weighed about the same, remember it?  The Stacy was
predicted to set the Atari community on it's collective ear but never went
anywhere but to sleep.  The Falcon is rumored to be sharing the same
respect (fate) as the Stacy from the "man at the very top".  This is a hot
one just brought in this week.  Seems the man has "lost faith" in the
falcon's ability to "resurrect the seriously ailing Phoenix".  "This leaves
the man in charge of falcon acquisition and delivery with an empty
toolbox."  Remarked STR's inside contact.  "The people in this place walk
around like they're in shock, not knowing when they too, will have to hit
the bricks." Added the informant.
     

    
- New York City, NY                     NY DEALER GETS FALCON - NO MONITOR!
  -----------------
  
     This dealer asked to remain anonymous and for good reason, he cited
the amount of grief other dealers have suffered at the hands of the
vendetta prone few at the top at Atari.  This dealer made mention of the
fact he got his Demo Falcon, but no Atari monitor to complete the display. 
According to our sources, we told him we had heard, Atari is interested in
getting the Falcons out there and has pretty much curtailed all other
contract manufacturing in favor of the Falcon.  That folks, is a nice way
of saying they are not making monitors any longer.  At least for the
moment.  After a long sigh, all he said was oh well....




  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""



STReport's "EDITORIAL CARTOON"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""



> A "Quotable Quote"           "A sign of the times!"
  """""""""""""""""



                       "TELL 'EM ANYTHING YOU LIKE...
                     ...AS LONG AS IT MAKES 'EM HAPPY!"


                                        ..Commander Blowhard Wheeze


 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""



> DEALER CLASSIFIED LIST STR InfoFile        * Dealer Listings *
  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""          ---------------



                         ABCO COMPUTER CONSULTANTS
                         =========================
                               P.O. Box 6672
                      Jacksonville, Florida 32236-6672
                                 Est. 1985
                               1-904-783-3319
                         ATARI-AMIGA-PC-CLONES-MAC
                       HARDWARE, SOFTWARE & SUPPLIES

           """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

                              COMPUTER STUDIO
                              ===============
                          WESTGATE SHOPPING CENTER
                       40 Westgate Parkway - Suite D
                            Asheville, NC  28806
                               1-800-253-0201
                                Orders Only
                               1-704-251-0201
                                Information
                          Authorized Atari Dealer

           """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

                             MEGABYTE COMPUTERS
                             ==================
                                907 Mebourne
                              Hurst, TX 76053
                               1-817-589-2950
                          Authorized Atari Dealer

           """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

                             SAN JOSE COMPUTER
                             =================
                              1278 Alma Court
                            San Jose, CA.  95112
                               1-408-995-5080
                          Authorized Atari Dealer

           """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

                              CompuSeller West
                              ================
                            220-1/2 W. Main St.
                          St. Charles, IL., 60174
                             Ph. (708) 513-5220
                          Authorized Atari Dealer

           """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

            (DEALERS; to be listed here, please drop us a line.)



"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
                   STReport International Online Magazine
                      -* [S]ilicon [T]imes [R]eport *-
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
STR Online!           "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE"        April 23, 1993
Since 1987      copyright (c) 1987-92 All Rights Reserved          No.9.17
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Views,  Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of
the editors/staff of STReport International Online Magazine.  Permission to
reprint  articles is  hereby granted,   unless  otherwise noted.   Reprints
must, without   exception, include the name of the publication, date, issue
number   and the author's name.    STReport and/or portions therein may not
be edited in any way without prior written  permission.   STReport,  at the
time  of publication, is believed reasonably accurate.  STReport, its staff
and  contributors are not and  cannot be  held responsible  for the use  or
misuse of information  contained herein or the results obtained therefrom.
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""


-----------------------------------------
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