Event Horizons BBS

Event Horizons BBS was a popular and perhaps the most financially successful Bulletin Board System (BBS). It was founded in 1983 by Jim Maxey, a self-taught scientist,[1] who was President and CEO and ran his company out of Lake Oswego, Oregon.[2] By 1993, the BBS was grossing over $3.2 million annually.[3] In 1994, the BBS had 128 phone lines and over 34,000 members, and eighteen employees.[1][4] The organization also offered mail-ordered copies of content for those that did not want to download said via modem.[5] Event Horizons in later years ran on the TBBS system.[6] In 1996, Maxey closed the BBS.

Event Horizons BBS originally offered online forums, games, and astronomy images[1][7] for paying customers to download. Maxey first charged $1/hr which grew over the years to $24/hr. The BBS later offered softcore adult images and movies which helped to secure its fame as the most profitable BBS.[8] A team of programmers working for the BBS created an interactive, graphical game called Voyager III that allowed the players to explore space.[1][7]

In 1992, Playboy Enterprises sued Event Horizons for copyright infringement. Maxey reportedly paid Playboy a half million dollars to settle the case out of court in 1993.[9][10] The BBS complied with copyright law in the wake of the settlement.[11]

References
  1. Fran Gardner (February 10, 1994). "Entrepreneur hits bulletin board bull's eye". The Oregonian.
  2. Jack Rickard (April 1, 1993). "Home-grown BB$". WIRED Magazine. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  3. Chris Skinner (2018). Digital Human: The Fourth Revolution of Humanity Includes Everyone. UNKNO. p. 38. ISBN 978-9814794374.
  4. David Fox (1994). Love Bytes: The Online Dating Handbook. Waite Group. ISBN 1878739883.
  5. Phillip Robertson (1993). The Joy of CyberSex: An Underground Guide to Electronic Erotica. Brady Games. p. 127. ISBN 1566861071.
  6. "World's Most Expensive BBS". PC Magazine. June 28, 1994. p. 389.
  7. "Event Horizons' Voyager III Multimedia Tour of Solar System". Boardwatch Magazine. February 1994.
  8. Frederick S. Lane (1999). Obscene Profits: Entrepreneurs of Pornography in the Cyber Age. Routledge. p. 64. ISBN 978-0415920964.
  9. Wendy Lehnert (2002). Web Wizard's Guide to HTML. Addison-Wesley. p. 160. ISBN 0201741725.
  10. Georgina Voss (2015). Stigma and the Shaping of the Pornography Industry. Routledge. p. 33. ISBN 978-0415821179.
  11. Gary Wolf (1995). Aether Madness: An Offbeat Guide to the Online World. Peachpit. p. 97. ISBN 9781566090209.
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