11.0 What about Fees, Terms and Conditions?

I am shortly going to be writing a separate document on condition- related issues; hopefully I will be able to write a suggested terms and conditions list for all providers.

11.1 How much can I charge? How much do other providers charge?

Most providers, including biggies Netcom and Earthlink, charge in the $ 19.95 a month range. Online services have fought back by also taking the $ 19.95 price point. I've seen ISP services for as little as $ 9.95 a month, but mostly for seriously limited access. Unlimited access is in the $ 12 to $ 30 a month range. The higher rates are charged by "boutique" providers that offer higher quality, more personalized service.

Netcom has POPs in many major cities, so statistically it's the most likely competitor for you to come up against. Earthlink and CRL are other names you're likely to run into.

When comparing your rates to Netcom's, keep in mind that they have had enormous service problems in the past, and will probably be continuously erratic. See elsewhere in this FAQ for details. New service providers seem to be charging in the range of $ 14-20/month for full-access Shell or BBS accounts. The main action in rates is that SLIP/PPP are now priced at within a few dollars of Shell access, with at least 20 free hours.

Karl Denninger's MCSNet charges $ 60/3 months, or $ 240/year. If you stay with them for a year, you get two free months, reducing your effective cost to $ 17/month. For SLIP/PPP, the 14-month cost is $ 260, under the same terms.

11.2 How can I distinguish my service from the competition?

In the beginning, low rates, friendliness of service and lack of heavy system load may be your best bet, at least when competing with the national providers.

I'm using unique software I wrote myself as a lure, but I recognize that this is not an option for many people. (See the section on BBS software, below).

11.3 Unlimited versus Metered Access

Before SLIP and PPP accounts became commonplace, most Internet providers had a single rate for unlimited access. During the days of the shell account, after all, if you were on the net, you generally couldn't use your computer for anything else. As a result, people would stay online for only as long as they needed.

Because of this tradition, many providers have continued to offer "unlimited" SLIP/PPP access, with the important provison that this would not be the same as "full-time, dedicated, 24x7 access".

Other providers have said that, because many people can camp online without even knowing they're doing it, some kind of time charge is necessary. There is a certain degree of acrimony on the Inet-Access mailing list between the two camps, with the metered access camp saying that the unmetered people are not able to provide high-quality service.

This debate really matters little, as virtually all Internet providers are being forced to offer virtually unlimited access due to competition from other Internet providers and the commercial online services.

One very important point is to be sure you define your terms correctly. An "unlimited" account has to be separate and distinct from a "permanent, dedicated" account. It must be made clear that you are not going to let people keep the the connction up 24x7 to run servers or MUDs. It's probably best to say that something like this: "There is no hard limit to the amount of time you can spend on your account. However, this account is /not/ to be used to run servers, and you must be on line for no more than half the day. We will not normally enforce that requirement unless your usage is continuously excessive for a long period of time."

Richard Stiennon notes: "I have had customers that use IRC for *eight* hours a day. These "addicts" are usually good customers and bring in a lot of referrals. Heavy users can be a problem if your POP has only 20 or so modems, but once you are up to 100 modems statistics become your friend. Not a problem."

David Graves (dgraves@netreach.net) comments:

"One of the ways to insure that there isn't abuse is to call it "unlimited interactive usage" Which means that you will kick them out with 20 or so minutes inactivity. For the people who set their mail to read every 15 minutes to keep on -- well just set your term server to knock anyone off after 6 hours or so. If they're really on, they'll log right back in. If they're not there, then your modem is free for your other users. There's probably nothing you can do with people who have auto-relog on disconnect.

"For us it just hasn't been an issue.

"If you find someone staying on for 10 and 12 hours, you might email them and tell them that you really don't think that they're sitting there all that long, and would they please consider buying the 'dedicated access' package."

11.4 Accounting and Billing Practices (*)

Billing by credit card has major advantages for both you and your customer. It's definitely the best option for most providers, but it may be exceedingly difficult to get. See below.

There are a number of services now that will set up 900 number billing for you. Your customer calls the number and gets a code; he then calls your system and types the code in. The system is then unlocked for a specific period. You are paid at the end of the telco billing cycle. This is probably one of the easiest options to qualify for, but you only get 2/3 of the total charge; this might be unacceptable to you. People who have used the 900 number and received your services may also attempt to contest the charges on their bill. Due to the sleazy reputation of 900 number vendors and systems, this is normally granted as a matter of course by the local telco.

Finally, you can get people to pay by check. You get 100% of the charge, and you get it now. The bad news is that many people who will blithely charge billions on a credit card have an amazing resistance to getting around to sending a check in the mail. Unless you have your strongman Guido around to collect from your customers, this might not be the best solution. You should always accept this form of payment, since it's the simplest type for you, but you should not count on your customers doing it. It's generally best to offer tempting discounts for longer terms, since it's a big hassle getting people to send in a check every month.

11.5 Credit Cards (*)

There are two issues surrounding the world of credit cards. The first is how big a percentage they nick you, and the second is whether you can get them to accept your company at all.

Most credit card processing companies are leery of any businesses selling services, especially out of the home. You will find it much easier to get their attention if you have physical business premises, instead of your garage.

A company called Teleflora - that's right, a florist delivery service - has made quite a nice little sideline business out of processing credit card orders for bulletin boards and similar operations. However, they now appear to be out of this business (as of November 7, 1994).

Ben Bradley is offering a service that appears to fill in the gap. He represents four "banks that specialize in granting credit card merchant accounts to ISPs and other on-line professionals. Makes no difference if the ISP is just starting business or operating out of their home. We can, in most cases, get them approved if they have good personal credit. We also offer Auto-Debit from the checking accounts of the customers of the ISP."

For more information, drop a line to bradley@lords.com .

Chris Hawkinson notes two interesting things. First, if you charge by the hour, you are counted as a worse risk than if you charge a flat-rate fee. To accept VISA, you must do the following if you have an hourly rate plan:

* Pay a special annual fee * Have the worst discount rate * Have an 800 number which appears on credit card statements.

Second, just because you have received money, it doesn't mean you won't have to give it back. Chargebacks can occur up to a year later with just cause. "Further, since an online system usually doesn't have the normal signature receipt, the customer is almost ALWAYS right."

Finally, he notes that extremely tight security is necessary for a system that keeps credit cards information online, since crackers are attracted to card numbers like ants are to sugar. Perhaps the best way to do this is take the card numbers and copy them to a remote system inaccesible to the public.

Chris Myer (cmyer@su102a.ess.harris.com) did a complete survey of net.wisdom on this topic. He came up with the following additional comments on how you might get accepted for a merchant account, and what kinds of rates:

1 Get an account through a local bank. Chris says this isn't very likely, unless you have very substantial dealings with them. "These guys don't understand the 'net, and will simply consider you a mail-order business. If you are home-based, forget it. Your only hope is to get an employee of the local bank to go to bat for you--in a big way!" Karl Denninger apparently got his own merchant account in this manner; keep in mind, however, that his five-digit account balances probably helped just a little.

2 Independent Service Organization. These people serve as go-betweens, insulating you from the more stringent standards banks require. According to Chris, "Many of these companies charge horrendous up-front, non-refundable fees, but some are reasonable."

The most well-known of them is Teleflora. Evidently these guys decided that they would become ISO's, and they are big believers in BBS's. Fairly large non-refundable application fee. Unfortunately, they seem to be leaving the business at this time. (800) 325-4849. (x2076?)

Card Service is another outfit that's been mentioned. Unfortunately, little information is available about their serivces. Card Service, (800) 944-7164, or try (800) 947-3650 (faxback, request 765.)

3 Discover Card: "Evidently, they not only provide Discover cards, but once you get one of those they will also provide access to Visa/MC merchant accounts. Call (800) DISCOVER (347-2683 for the alpha-numerically challenged) and ask for Merchant Services."

Here's the information from Chris on what kind of rates you can expect to pay:

Samples of Rates Charged: ========================= Visa/MC: 2.20% 2.25% plus $.25 per transaction, plus $2.00 statement charge. 2.32% plus $5.00 per month. 3.0% 3.5% plus $.30 per transaction. 4.0% Discover: 1.9% 3.25%

AMEX: 3.25% 4.5%

Terminal: $21 per month, or $200 outright. $600 outright, $75 for repair.

The following is copied straight from Chris' message:

Suggestions for Getting Accepted:

1 Try to avoid being labeled "home-business", "mail order" or "telemarketer". I don't recommend lying if you fall squarely into one of these catagories, but don't let them put you there if you're not.

2 Minimize the amount you predict you will charge. Due to the fact that charge-backs can be made for up to 6 months after a transaction, the bank's amount "at risk" is 6 times the predicted monthly amount.

3 When working with a bank be prepared to keep liquid assets in the bank equal to or greater than their "at risk" amount. This is usually necessary for no more than 6-12 months of good charges.

Suggestions for Protecting Yourself:

1 Try to find some way to get a signature on file. One way I thought of was not only to have them fax in the card number and their signature, but a photocopy of their picture ID with signa- ture on it.

2 Make sure you have a way to verify that the ship-to address for your product (if you are a retailer) is the same as the billing address of the credit card holder.

11.6 Billing Software

A more up to date list of billing softare is at http://www.isp-invoicing.com.

There are a number of billing programs out there for Internet providers. A company called Interstate has written a "thorough billing system called 'im', or 'INC Manager'." It keeps track of billing, pro-rating, account creation, expiration and bill and label printing. Cost is $ 125/site license. [I have gotten several enquiries for company contact information; unfortunately, all I know is what I wrote here. Perhaps someone from Interstate can come forward with something?]

A system called BATS (formerly IOU) is promising, but still under development with some serious bugs, according to a beta tester of the system. You can learn more about IOU http://www.astroarch.com.

Edward L Haletky , speaking for IOU's developers, AstroArch Consulting, says, "Any problems currently referred to in the FAQ have not existed for a very long period of time."

IOU supports BSDI 1.1 and 2.0, FreeBSD v2.0.5, AIX v4.0, HUPX v9.0.x, IRIX 5.x, Linux, MachTen, OSF/1 v3.2, SCO, Solaris 2.4 and Solaris x86, SunOS 4.1.3, Unixware, Digital Unix and MachTen. The current version is 2.0.

I'd appreciate comments from other users so I can provide an impartial update of IOU's status. So far, nobody seems to have been upset enough to give me additional information, so I'll assume the software has overcome its previous problems.

The name IOU has now been changed to BATS, "for various reasons".

User Tracking and Accounting from RTD has had some problems with support, so they've thrown it into the public domain. It's a bunch of perl scripts that runs under Unix, and includes full source code. If you're a hacker, I'd definitely recommend that approach over using a Windows-based program. Check out http://www.rtd.com/software/uta.html

Keven Fink has just announced the ISP billing system written in Perl. Here's the summary he sent us:

"N2H2's User Registration, Information, and Billing System (URIBS) is a complete user administration package for UNIX-based ISPs. It allows non-technical staff to create and administer both shell and dial-up user accounts. It also provides billing and accounting capabilities.

"The package is written entirely in Perl, so all source code is included to allow easy customization. It has been tested on a variety of UNIX variants, including SunOS, Solaris, Linux, FreeBSD, and BSDI. It was designed to work with RADIUS for dial-up authentication and accounting." For more information, check out http://www.n2h2.com/URIBS/.

There is another system called IAF by Solect; more information can be found at http://www.solect.com/

Imagen - http://www.imagen.net/has a new billing system. Once again, it's Windows-based, alas. However, it's worth noting that it will read industry-standard RADIUS and web log files, which means that you don't have to use NT servers to run the program, despite what its web page might imply; instead, you can go to your Windows (95 or NT) box, give it the files from your Unix servers, and it will grind away on them. Since it's a Windows program, source code is hidden and you cannot fool with it yourself (unlike the Perl systems mentioned above). They use an Access database, so it's a bit of a slug, but you can use standard query software built into Access to build your own reports. Note that, unlike Coolworld, the database is open and can be played with at will. Access is not required to run the product. However, it might be a good choice for non-hackers; I did get the impression that the people who suggested it to me were responsive. So if you must use Windows for this crucial function, this might not be a bad choice. One special feature it has that's worthy of note is that you can use it to bill by the hour for applications like cyber cafes and such.

The system called Coolworld - http://www.coolworld.com- has been criticised heavily by its users on the Inet-Access mailing list. It's Windows and Access-based, which in my opinion should disqualify it from consideration by any serious ISP. Those who disagree with this analysis should note that the database files are apparently locked, so you cannot alter or modify the files using any kind of outside program. Coolworld users found that it was impossible to import historical information from other packages, and that technical support was unhelpful.

Coolworld has threatened to sue a person who posted what they considered to be derogatory information on their package to the Inet-Access mailing list. I would recommend in the strongest possible terms that you stay away from this company.

Intbill is a package originally suggested by Emil Mikhles . Its URL is http://www.coolworld.com/intbill/. It, however, runs on Windows 3.1, Windows 95 or Windows NT, so Windowsphobic people (like me!) may not care for it. It requires 16MB of RAM. Emil reports that he no longer recommends Intbill; he now uses a custom package written in Access, linking the data to PC-Charge (a Windows equivalent to IC Verify).

Kevin Fink of n2h2 (see above) has created his own list of every ISP billing program on the market: http://www.n2h2.com/URIBS/others.html.

On 12 September 1997, James B Hrdy posted the following list of billing packages to inet-access, unfortunately without any commentary. This should give you some more help with your quest:

http://www.cyberacs.com/ ISP Trak http://www.xpert.com/ X Acct http://www.digidyne.ca/iapplications.html Tips http://www.cybertimesoftware.com Cybertimes http://n2h2.com/URIBS// Uribs http://www.mcmsoft.com/isovr.html MCM REAL TIME Accounting Systems http://www.interbiller.com/ InterBiller http://www.pacnet.com/pacnet/wcube/screens.html WebCube http://www.aimquest.com/aims.html AIMS http://www.net.effects.com:8080/net+effects/isp_server.html Net+Effec ts http://www.solect.com/ Solect http://hawk-i.mgl.ca/ HawkI http://www.imagen.net/ NT PayMaster http://www2.rtd.com/software/uta/ User Tracking and Accounting(tm) (UTA) http://www.techapp.com/is_ipac_profile.html CIM and SMA software/mangament http://www.portal.com:80/ Portal http://www.expansion.com/ Total Billing http://www.kenan.com/ Kenan Systems Arbor BP http://www.cablenet.net/cablenet/isp.htm POP in a Box http://winsoft.net.au/winsoft/ibs.htm ISP Billing Software href= http://www.empac.com/ EMPAC Software http://www.interlinkweb.com/%7Emain/ispprofits1.htm ISP Billing http://www.regulus.safe.ca/ S.A.F.E. http://www.hurl.nethttp://www.boardtown.com/http://www.coolworld.comhttp://www.emerald.iea.comhttp://www.hawk-i.mgl.ca/http://www.isppower.comhttp://www.isp-billing.comhttp://www.itrans.com/http://www.mcmsoft.com/http://www.omegasoftware.com/http://www.paypros.comhttp://www.suntech.com/eclipse/

11.7 Making the Internet more User-Friendly

Several different approaches have been taken to increase the user friendliness of the Internet, traditionally a rather cold place for new users.

11.8 What are SLIP and PPP?

SLIP and PPP are serial protocols that get your customers directly on the Internet, so they can use tools on their own computers. This has three basic benefits: (1) they can get easier to use Windows or Macintosh versions of Internet software, and control exactly which programs they use; (2) they can receive graphics directly over the net; and (3) they don't use power from your CPU unless they are accessing your disk (by reading news, for example). Unfortunately, it is quite complex to set up, although most people figure it out eventually.

You cannot succeed as an Internet provider nowadays without offering SLIP/PPP, together with Netscape or a comparible program like Microsoft Internet Explorer. Although many old-line Internet users continue to enjoy the old-fashioned shell account/Lynx web browser, virtually all new consumer accounts use SLIP/PPP and the graphical interface.

You need something called a terminal server to offer SLIP. It's very expensive. (See the hardware sections). While it's possible to run SLIP or PPP using the more traditional multi-port serial cards, it's relatively slow and not generally recommended.

Some programs have now been written that simulate SLIP for shell account users. They will work, but are harder on your system load (because they use your shell account computers) than real SLIP/PPP. This should significantly lower the cost of SLIP accounts in the future, a trend that has already developed considerable steam. One of these programs is called The Internet Adapter (TIA); some kind soul should give me a pointer to it. I believe a single- user license is $ 25, and a full system site license is $ 495. A free trial period is available.

IBM already has SLIP client software in their new OS/2 Warp product. Microsoft is planning to add this to Windows95 as well. So it should become easier to operate SLIP services as time goes on.

My personal experience with SLIP on Windows 3.1 has been edifying. I have an IBM ThinkPad 750C laptop with 8MB RAM, a 340MB hard disk and a brand new TDK 28.8kbps PCMCIA modem. I tried Trumpet Winsock and both the Cello and Netscape WWW browser programs, and had very curious results. Things would work fine (albiet slowly) for a while, and then the system would suddenly be unable to find its name server. This usually didn't take very long to happen, and it made use of the SLIP connection very exasperating. Judging by the Trumpet Winsock output, it would appear that the system was getting communications overrun errors, which I guess means that it cannot keep up at high speed on my machine. The PCMCIA modem, of course, has a built-in 16550a UART.

Fortunately, Windows95 eliminates a lot of those problems. Any new customers you get should be strongly advised to switch to Windows95 instead of wrestling with Windows 3.1 flakiness.

11.9 What do you need in order to offer SLIP or PPP?

To offer a SLIP or PPP connection, you need the following things:

Infinite Patience

A starter kit

Because of this, your Internet starter kit would appear to be far less important than it was in the past. However, competitive pressure has appeared since most large providers offer a licensed copy of Netscape with their service. Smaller ones, however, find it difficult to afford Netscape because you can only get good price breaks on it in quantities around 1,000 or more. Inking a five-figure contract with Netscape is not most small ISP's idea of fun.

Michael Dillon has an update on this; apparently the dust has cleared and you can now get quite decent terms from Netscape resellers such as Intercon. "I have in front of me a price sheet from Intercon that includes Netscape, Eudora, ftp client, news client etc... for $14.95 in quantities of 100 and up. Even the smallest ISP should be able to commit to buying 100 units and $14.95 is low enough that you should be able to easily pass this cost on to customers as an account setup fee. And it is available for Windows and Mac. Send email to randall@intercon.com for details and maybe he will send you the demo kit that was being handed out at ISPCON." This seems to me like an excellent idea.

One of the big questions floating around the Internet provider world, then, is whether you make a deal with the devil. Microsoft will give you a free license to distribute Internet Explorer, their browser, and all they ask is that you add a smattering of their extensions to your home page, stick on a "Best Viewed with Internet Explorer" label, and not recommend any other browsers to your customers. Those who are not virulent Microsoft haters have taken a hard look at this package, although there don't seem to be many defections from Netscape; it's mainly people who didn't have a browser deal before.

In truth, Netscape has been remarkably insensitive to the needs of the small ISP market, and this may hurt them badly in the long run. MSIE is now said to be quite a decent program; it actually pioneered some very useful extensions, such as <table background> and popping up the document text before the background loaded. Netscape has since copied these, and since then it's been a wild battle to the death between the two companies.

I have very mixed feelings about all this. I don't like what Netscape's done to the small ISPs, but I don't trust Microsoft any further than I could throw them. If it was my call, I'd provide no software and have my customers FTP Netscape. The problem is that Netscape is very, very slow to download, so this can be a very annoying option for many people, especially those just starting out.

This dilemma may well be resolved, but not in a way I'll necessarily like: Soon, Internet Explorer will be included within every release of Windows95. We'll like that, because we'll finally be liberated from the need to wrestle with troublesome installation disks. But it may well mean the final victory of Microsoft in the browser wars -- strictly by default.

Unfortunately, Windows 3.1 customers are probably still the majority, due to the unfortunate reputation of Windows95 in many quarters. As a result, a Windows 3.1 setup kit is still needed, and Microsoft has attempted to provide one. Early reports, however, state that the TCP stack is riddled with problems, which might well make you think twice about signing that Microsoft deal.

So support for Windows 3.x is still probematical, and the following older section of this document describes what's usually done.

SLIP/PPP software is complex. In order to offer SLIP, you have to supply your users with a disk or disks containing software to install on their computers. (Since I first wrote this, PPP has largely replaced SLIP, mainly due to its inclusion in Windows95).

Most of this software is shareware, and there are some complex distribution conditions. For the most part, you cannot distribute SLIP software pre-configured for people's systems without paying a license fee to the software's owner. Some of the software, including Netscape, cannot be legally distributed on a disk without a license - and licenses for Netscape are expensive: $ 17/copy with a minimum buy of 500 copies.

What most people do is distribute a rather minimalist startup kit, normally including Trumpet Winsock (said to be the least bad of the available TCP stacks) and public domain FTP, Gopher, mail and WWW clients. Customers are then given instructions to set up the disk, and can then download Netscape from the main Netscape www site.

Note that the version of Netscape sold on a retail level has startup access for various commercial Internet providers such as Netcom and CompuServe; its configuration procedure is apparently severely biased against local ISPs. This might be worth keeping in mind when deciding whether to use those Netscape extensions ...

Microsoft is providing a free startup disk kit called the IETK. People who have used it seem to be having almost constant problems setting it up and trying to get it functional. It's free, but you have to use at least one of Microsoft's IE extensions on your web page and state that your site is bets viewed with MSIE. On balance, I'd rather go with Netscape despite the cost.

Due to the ever-increasing size of this software, it's increasingly cost-effective to burn startup CD ROMs instead of disks. The IETK, for example, takes five disks. At a cost of $ 0.35 per disk, that's $ 1.75. Pressing a CD ROM is not only less trouble for the user, it's also a lot cheaper; you can do it for less than $ 1 per CD.

11.10 Do any companies offer starter kits, or do I have to roll my own?

Soorena Salari offers InetMgr, an installer package that makes the connection easy. It creates the proper directories, installs the files, and asks the needed questions. Cost is $ 2/disk, quantity 1,000+.

A test drive version is available for your trial at http://www.ccsweb.com/inetmgr.

Emil Mikhles recommends Better Internet Starter Kits at http://www.talon.net/iqcdemo.

11.11 How has Windows95 changed the SLIP/PPP picture?

Windows95 includes dial-up networking out of the box. As a result, configuring new PPP users (Windows95 doesn't use SLIP) is quite a bit less difficult than it's been in the past. A site called Windows95.com [ http://www.windows95.com/] has an excellent set of instructions which I believe you can provide to your customers. They'll save you hours of hideously boring technical support.

The Windows95 setup wizard included with the Plus Pack makes setup a nearly brainless experience. All you need to do is type in the IP numbers of your various servers and you're all set. You can talk new subscribers through this over the phone in about five minutes. If you don't get the Plus Pack, the instructions on http://www.windows95.com/are worth their weight in gold; you can still do it, but it requires wandering through a whole bunch of tabbed dialogue boxes.

If your users are currently using Windows 3.1 and upgrade to Windows95, they will find that their existing Windows software almost certainly will not work. To fix this, they can either set up Windows95 dial-up networking, or find their old winsock.dll file (which I believe is renamed to winsock.old) and overwrite the Windows95 driver with it.

If your users presently have Trumpet, I strongly recommend Windows95. Its dial-up networking is significantly easier to set up than Trumpet, and it seems quite a bit more reliable as well.

11.12 What about proprietary GUIs, such as the Pipeline?

The Pipeline, a NYC-based Internet provider, took a different approach. They wrote their own customized terminal program that basically makes their system look like SLIP/PPP without all the headaches. It's clever and works well. Unfortunately, as of last writing, they were asking a rather massive price for it. You can try it free of charge on their demo line; telnet to pipeline.com.

At one time, I was planning to write a similar GUI front end for my own customized software. However, the stampede towards Netscape and PPP connections has made this look like a fairly poor idea at this time.

The Pipeline was sold to PSI and is now, alas, out of business.

11.13 What about BBS Interfaces?

I wrote and ran a customized BBS between March 1994 and June 1996. Unfortunately, the market for the type of system I had pretty much vanished after people started selling SLIP/PPP connections for $ 9.95 a month. Because of that, and due to a hardware failure that made the system uneconomic to keep up, the system is now down. Shed a tear; it's been completely replaced by my Web provider. A spiritual successor to my BBS can be found in my web personals pages, at http://cgi.amazing.com/personals/.

The rest of the information in this section is from 1994 and is probably very much out of date. The BBS world as a whole seems to be dying with the dominance of the Internet.

For those who still care, esoft, makers of TBBS, now no longer sells or supports the product, so we can't recommend it anymore even if you just want to run a BBS. Pity since it had the easiest and best customizability of any commercial BBS software.

Bulletin board systems, such as TBBS and Major BBS, are rushing into the Internet bandwagon. Traditionally, the interfaces used by both these programs are far too clunky for efficient newsreading, and that is virtually the only service they've been able to offer. How much this changes will determine how much influence BBS vendors finally have on the Internet world.

Eric S Raymond has been working on some similar projects. Like many projects of its kind, this was inspired by dissatisfaction with existing systems:

"I know of three major projects to produce a UNIX BBS interface suitable for use by ISPs -- FreePort, InterLink, and Chebucto Suite.

"FreePort is the BBS interface used by NPTN, the National Public Telecomputing Network, and its affiliated Free-Nets. Despite its name, it costs $850 to license from Case Western Reserve University. And it is an utterly awful implementation of a clumsy, stupid design. Most of the traffic on its lists, freenet-tech and freenet-admin, is disgruntled Free-Netters wishing desperately they had something better. To see for yourself, rlogin as `visitor' at freenet.fsu.edu or yfn2.ysu.edu."

I - the FAQ maintainer - wanted to check out this claim, so I did exactly as Eric suggested. Sure enough, the Free-Net software is awfully clunky for an $ 895 program. It's inarguably simple, but the user interface is far from the best. It looks a lot like a stripped down version of Galacticomm's Major BBS; unfortunately, that's not a compliment.

Eric again: "InterLink is the interface I wrote out of complete disgust with FreePort. It combines the ease of use of a menu-based system with the feel of a MUD (multi-user dungeon) game; it has unique features for decentralized administration; and the code is simple, flexible, and easily extensible. This software is production-quality, supporting more than 1000 users as of November 1994, and is far superior to FreePort in every respect, but I have not yet released it; I'm in the midst of a redesign for better integration with WWW. To check it out, telnet to locke.ccil.org."

I checked it out, and it is indeed a slick, nicely designed and easy to understand program. It has a much more modern look and feel than the FreeNet software, and it's considerably easier to figure out.

The David's Amazing Internet Services software - otherwise known as my own - is very different from either program. Anyone interested in checking out the state of the Internet BBS art should definitely take a look at all three systems. Which one is better? I'd say it depends on your own personal taste.

Eric continues:

"There is a project called `Chebucto Suite' under development in Canada, with goals similar to those of InterLink. From their prospectus, it appears that they already have full WWW integration (the Chebucto browser is a souped-up version of the WWW lynx client). They appear to be behind InterLink in some other areas, notably administration tools. I don't know where Chebucto Suite is actually running; contact David Trueman for information.

Earlier, Eric was quite keen on integrating his project with Chebucto Suite. However, he recently wrote the following: "The Chebucto people seem to have fallen into a hole. They're not answering mail, and I've heard nothing about them on any of the FreeNet lists."

Lasse Morkhagen tells us that BBBS is a European BBS program from Finland, which supports News, Email, telnet, rlogin, flexible accounting, Fido-Net and a C-like scripting language for customization. To try it, you can telnet to fix.no .

11.14 What about menu interfaces?

Many people are now using a World Wide Web browser, such as Lynx, as their main menuing system. This is easy for most people to use, and can take them to all sorts of interesting places.

Some people have trouble with this because Lynx won't work properly unless your VT-100 emulation is exactly perfect. However, the flexibility and ease of use are certainly there.

A company called Interstate has written a menu shell in Perl that features complete full-screen operation. A site license for it costs $ 75. Unfortunately, I lost the message with further information.

11.15 Is there an easy, painless way to provide Internet services?

Possibly. Draper Kauffman has a beguilingly simple business idea to share with potential providers in underserved regions of the world: sell telnet-only accounts to his system. This way, he notes, you lose a lot of headaches. No need for gigabyte drives; use his. No need to offer shell accounts and stay up all night worrying about infamous security holes; he'll offer them for you. No need to contract with credit card companies; he knows how tiresome that is to new businesses and takes all of it out of your hands. You charge what you want and it all goes through his accounting system. Anything over a $ 15/month flat fee is given to you as a nice convenient check you can deposit right into your account.

The main advantage of this idea is that you have 24 hour a day 7 day a week monitoring and support by his already-existant ops center. This would be horribly expensive for you to do yourself.

The main disadvantage of this idea is that you have no control over your own system; in reality, you're selling someone else's product and not your own. If you (like me) are starting a provider to put your own personal stamp on the world, this is definitely not for you. However, if you want money and you're in a market with low competition, you could probably charge $ 25/month and pocket the $ 10 difference without doing anything more strenuous than maintaining your modems and router.

Note that, since this would be a telnet only situation, you would almost certainly require a T1 connection, since 100% of your users' time would be using the Internet itself quite intensely. The high bandwidth required might offset some of the administrative savings of the proposed plan.

However, it can be an effective way to build a strong customer base at the start, where cash for hardware, software and customer support staff is hard to come by. You also have more time for marketing your service, and it's easier to sell a full-service account for $ 25 than a semi-reliable account on a start-up system for $ 18.

Draper suggests that your initial goal should be to build up your system in stages to handle 750 to 1,000 customers using 64 lines and modems and a T-1 line. If you charge $ 25 per customer and pay about $ 30/line and $ 2,000 for your T-1, you net somewhere around $ 4,500 to $ 6,000 per month with no payroll. Then, with this kind of strong cash flow, you can easily add the drives, CPUs and staff you need for complete services, and gradually bring your customers back to your system full-time.

A Phoenix, AZ company called Primenet is now selling Internet franchises, which work in a very similar way to Draper's plan. I have seen their franchise agreement, and it appears to be incredibly slanted against the franchisee. I urge anyone interested in that franchise (or any other) to read the agreement carefully before deciding to invest.

Another company called Internet Online Services (IOS) has also been forming cooperative agreements with users; unfortunately, their very low rates and massive national advertising has resulted in horribly poor service (see http://www.thelist.comand look them up for the gory details).

Draper Kauffman himself seems to have disappeared, and I have heard from some io.com users that service has deteriorated significantly in recent months.

Next section: What sorts of technical problems should I expect?