- Rusty n Edie's BBS
Rusty n Edie's BBS ("Rusty-N-Edie's") was a
bulletin board system founded onMay 11 ,1987 by the twoSysOp s, Russ Hardenburgh andEdwina Hardenburgh , of Boardman,Ohio . At one point the BBS had over 14,000 subscribers across theUnited States ,Canada , andEurope (each paying an $89 annual membership fee) and over 124modem lines.On
January 30 ,1993 , the system was raided by the FBI for software piracy after a several month investigation in cooperation with the Software Publishers Association (SPA).On
November 25 ,1997 , a lawsuit was filed byPlayboy Enterprises in response to 412 adultGIF images available for download, which had come from the pages of Playboy magazine, and had been scanned in. (PLAYBOY ENTERPRISES, INC., v. RUSS HARDENBURGH, INC., No. 1:93 CV 0546.) Hardenburgh lost this case and was found personally liable along with his company. Ultimately, the judgement was for hundreds of thousands of dollars.Quotations
"The SPA should protect the BBS operator from having equipment confiscated. These are computers, not drugs or illegal weapons! The rationale means any
PC Magazine reader suspected of having pirated software may have a PC confiscated. As in Stalin's Russia, it only takes a tip from an unfriendly neighbor. The SPA is that neighbor today. A disgruntled employee or jilted lover will be that neighbor tomorrow." —John C. Dvorak References
* Dvorak, John C. "BBS Easy Target in FBI Bust",
PC Magazine ,May 11 1993 .External links
* [http://textfiles.com/bbs/r&estory.txt Rusty n Edie's BBS seized by the FBI]
* [http://timeline.textfiles.com/1987/05/11/1/FILES/page-22.htm A history of Rusty n Edie's, with a photograph of their servers circa 1994] , as told by Rusty Hardenburgh
* [http://www.loundy.com/CASES/Playboy_v_Hardenburgh.html Playboy v. Russ Hardenburgh] - copyright and trademark infringement suit filed by Playboy in response to actionable adult GIF images online Rusty n Edie's BBS.
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