-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hey, y'all. I'm not sure how well this will be received on Cypherpunks, but it seems like it's appropriate, given the discussions of e$ and the use of encryption for fun and profit (this being the latter). I recently quit my job on Wall Street (well, Broad Street) to go into the business of selling electronic forms of books (to start with, Voyager on the Macs (it's a toolkit that produces HyperCard stacks)) and other forms of information. We haven't made any money yet, but we're hoping (I'm the programmer/ part sys-admin). What we (I)'ve done is this: I took RIPEM (yes, we've licensed with Jim Bidzos), and ripped out the key management stuff, replacing it with a keypair for the masses (just because RIPEM likes the sender's private key to be used to encrypt -- no security is expected here) and our public key hardcoded in. The user ftp's a binary for their platform (*) from bb.com and runs the client -- they answer the questions (credit card info, what items they want on what platforms), and the client encrypts, finds sendmail, and fires the mail off. On platforms such as the Amiga, Mac, and PC where there isn't a standard e-mail interface, we'll just generate the crypto and let the user cut and paste it into their MUA. (*) we're not distributing source at the moment. It's simply too easy to spoof with the source. Anyway, this is the announcement. If anybody gets their nose out of joint about it, I sincerely apologize, and ask you not to blame my partners -- and I'll only do this one time. We're going on-line in earnest in the near future, but I got my partners to agree to let y'all take an early look, not entirely as an ad, but partially to show a willingness to work with y'all towards shaping a real information economy on the net. Comments can go to me (cactus@bb.com) or to comments@bb.com. Flames should just go to me. Oh, enclosed is our PGP 2.6 public key: we soon plan to take orders encrypted with PGP -- as soon as we clear up the legalities (how does one license IDEA for commercial use? Just buy ViaCrypt's PGP?). We haven't decided whether we'll accept non-encrypted orders yet. - -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: 2.6 mQCNAi4TlOwAAAEEAO58V1yZKAZF3X+HIeWwjlna7/MkOJJBFhLNtPGh9qqte6zh /XwRlWIpp7rSqv82WDA6tArYxyfzrP6MBwXbyzD4hqxMMsVOAHgZuIPcMqp75XJl /4lBUR9BuQvJKAecOgRZm0GOwSmczaKtysmJqRFA7K+6rkQdIUh4eBG7Ai55AAUR tB5CaWJsaW9ieXRlcyA8cGdwb3JkZXJzQGJiLmNvbT6JAJUCBRAuE7fIW7aHjZkR V9kBARntBAC7UPYI2RxrllHbMpJA4qBI88KqYasTSJdSolScAu0WhcG9XjIEV+Ks fvgTpGuw6yxd1HZKlwgHhoHKUbgb6WUaWD/g9s/Fra4eUnup87N93dPRCCccJeKe PQydLajr8X/DDecE6w9Ood9K0B3qahW29rMykQMz3ojV34Ki9rDsm4kAlQIFEC4T mJ4TYYKL6zwe3QEBJ7wD/3cHBOJwvP9WDd5XvtPmJ7eJDA/Bwzbu8DiIiO/eYV38 i1KcT4kOE2qRTRft93IQC11+g8WAgS3qUTwfmuLjXpjMw4FLQBbndW3kRQ10opBi vd9wWcoRC5uv9GHrLdJswmFISoy75A++xb1p/rSbR8WGKI7hdEKOrhKdei9i1EWD =SacH - -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Thanks, - -- L. Todd Masco | Bibliobytes books on computer, available on cactus@bibliob.slip.netcom.com | any UNIX host with e-mail: mail info@bb.com - ------- Start of forwarded message ------- Have you ever bought a book from thousands of miles away -- and had it in your computer immediately? Forget "You will" -- YOU CAN. And the company that can bring them to you is BiblioBytes. Hi, I'm Glenn Hauman. I'm the publisher of BiblioBytes, and I'm proud to welcome you into our world. Here at BiblioBytes we hope to offer you the best and most complete selection of books available on the Internet, which you can buy and read instantly -- right now -- without needing any extra equipment or time for your credit card to clear. You understand what we're doing here -- you've been on the net, you don't need AT&T commercials to explain it to you. We've built an encrypted financial exchange system, so you can purchase material safely over the Internet. We're using it to sell you electronic versions of books instantly. Any time. Any place that Internet-based email can travel. No matter. Thank you for asking about us. I hope that this letter explains everything you want to know -- but if you need more information, please send e-mail to info@bb.com. Thanks for checking us out! --Glenn Hauman, Publisher, BiblioBytes, 7/1/94 ********************************************************** * INSIDE THIS DOCUMENT * ********************************************************** 1) WHAT ARE WE PUBLISHING? 2) HOW DOES IT WORK? 3) HOW DO YOU GET THESE BOOKS? 4) WHAT FILE FORMATS DO WE OFFER? 5) HOW DO YOU GET YOUR BOOKS DISTRIBUTED THROUGH BIBLIOBYTES? 6) HOW DO YOU GET REVIEW COPIES? 7) BIBLIOBYTES AND YOU ********************************************************** 1) WHAT ARE WE PUBLISHING? You name a genre -- mystery, SF, romance, fantasy, erotica, classics -- we've got something in it, if not this week, then soon. As of this writing (6/30/94) we have the rights to over one thousand titles, and we're trying to get as many of them online as quickly as possible. Obviously, a catalog list that long is way beyond the scope of this letter. To get our most current list, send e-mail to catalog@bb.com. To subscribe to our mailing list of catalog updates (as well as other BiblioBytes information) send e-mail to bb-stuff@bb.com. 2) HOW DOES IT WORK? Pretty easily, actually. Use our custom encryptors to send e-mail including your order and credit card number to us. We will then send your files direct to you and charge your credit card. That's it. No special hardware needed, no waiting for an account to be set up, no joining additional computer networks to get your books. Our encryptors use the RSAREF library with a 1024 bit key to provide the best protection for your credit card information. Current encryptor platforms supported are: Sun 2 Sun 3 SPARC (SunOS 4 and Solaris 2) VAX/Ultrix 4.2 MIPS Ultrix 4.3 HP-UX 9.01 OSF/1 AXP Amiga NetBSD Next (68k and x86 "fat binaries") Other UNIX platforms on request -- send mail to platforms@bb.com. Macintosh/PowerMac, DOS, Windows, and Amiga-DOS platforms in development. Release dates TBA. You can get our encryptors via anonymous ftp from bb.com:/pub/orderbook or e-mail to client@bb.com with the platform in the body. Instructions are in the same directory with the encryptors. 3) HOW DO YOU GET THESE BOOKS? Just follow the instructions in the encryptors to send your name, address, credit card information, and catalog codes in an encrypted e-mail message. If you'd like to see a free sample, send e-mail to freebie@bb.com with the catalog code in the body. 4) WHAT FILE FORMATS DO WE OFFER? We have books in a wide variety of formats -- Voyager Expanded Books for the Macintosh (and soon for Windows), ASCII, RTF, and others, depending on the requirements of the book. However, we're open to suggestions -- if there's a particular format you'd like us to support, send e-mail to comments@bb.com. 5) HOW DO YOU GET BIBLIOBYTES TO DISTRIBUTE YOUR BOOKS? Get our Writer's Guidelines by sending e-mail to guidelines@bb.com, or look in "bb.com:/pub/info". Details and a sample contract info are provided. 6) I WOULD LIKE TO REVIEW YOUR BOOKS FOR THE PRESS. HOW DO I GET REVIEW COPIES? Review copies are available upon request to the press and to list administrators and moderators. Please send your credentials to critics@bb.com. Of course, previews are available on most of our books by sending e-mail to freebies@bb.com with the catalog code in the e-mail body. 7) BIBLIOBYTES AND YOU Unlike some online entities, we want your feedback. We can't do it without you. So let us know: What titles do you want to see? What topics? What authors? What file formats? What type of Internet connections -- Web, Gopher, FTP? What computers? How can we let you know about our products better? Would you like to see weekly columns? Would you pay in advance for a discount on books? The main basis of our growth will be your word-of-mouth. Please let other people know about us. Spreading the word is a real service to others and the best support you could give us. The second-best support is to take a minute and let us know what you think of us. As usual, send to comments@bb.com. - ------- End of forwarded message ------- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6 iQCVAgUBLhO7ZRNhgovrPB7dAQGkzQP9FCluZMNOYFGW/lR06WIuv8ZM23Qt1u+J qtnWOPE2f4ZdZbRJ8J0n/FtRVJ46LNtkqI6jWkNX5IJWzTrCVfAzTqGOzPgkXzCV 4WMGSDGyOV5TNqduJakDtmYuRvZOpgexMDCuCujv0vF1EMPI1U/IlNpCbPxSigOB dnUE3eq0+C0= =gAG3 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----