Showed up on a mailing list, reportedly sent by Walt Rines from a Hotmail account. If they set up their own network, that's A-OK with me unless, of course, someone foolishly connects it to the Internet. Regards, John Levine, postmaster@abuse.net, http://www.abuse.net, Trumansburg NY abuse.net postmaster --------- Cyber Promotions/Quantum Communications Press Release Spam Backbone Formed The "Spam King," Sanford Wallace, and Walt Rines Have incorporated their new bulk-email friendly backbone network For Immediate Release: Philadelphia 11/20/97-- Sanford Wallace, Walt Rines and an undisclosed third party have formed Global Technology Marketing, Inc. (GTMI). The new corporation will offer direct , high speed T-1 And T-3 Internet connections to companies that engage in mass commercial email. Currently, there are no other backbone providers that allow customers to send spam. GTMI will be offering connectivity contracts by the beginning of the next week. Sanford Wallace commented: "We are very excited about this new project. For the first time ever, Internet marketers will be encouraged to engage in direct advertising, a practice which is already accepted in the postal world." Walt Rines stated: "Finally, bulk emailers will have an opportunity to legitimize this new industry. We are going to prove that this explosive new market can be self-regulated." Technical Details: GTMI has established a national backbone which operates as a fully-meshed network operating at DS-3 speeds, and interconnecting, or "peering" with several other networks at undisclosed private peering points. Multiple Lucent 5E12 switches, capable of processing data using multiple protocols including Internet (IP) Protocol, will route the traffic through the network. Dr. Robert Elliot, Chief Technology Officer, was quoted as saying, "We are excited about employing the Lucent 5E12 switches in the new network architecture. It just proves that IP telephony is becoming a reality." More detailed information will follow within the week CONTACT INFO: Sanford Wallace: 215-628-9705 Walter Rines: 603-772-4096