'''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,<ref name="Oregonian">{{cite journal|title=Entrepreneur hits bulletin board bull's eye|author=Fran Gardner|date=February 10, 1994|journal=The Oregonian}}</ref> who was President and CEO and ran his company out of Lake Oswego, Oregon.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Home-grown BB$|author=Jack Rickard|url=https://www.wired.com/1993/04/bbs/?pg=2&topic=|magazine=WIRED Magazine|date=April 1, 1993|accessdate=June 24, 2021}}</ref> By 1993, the BBS was grossing over $3.2 million annually.<ref>{{cite book|title=Digital Human: The Fourth Revolution of Humanity Includes Everyone|year=2018|page=38|author=Chris Skinner|publisher=UNKNO|isbn=978-9814794374}}</ref> In 1994, the BBS had 128 phone lines and over 34,000 members, and eighteen employees.<ref name="Oregonian"/><ref>{{cite book|title=Love Bytes: The Online Dating Handbook|year=1994|publisher=Waite Group|isbn=1878739883|author= David Fox}}</ref> The organization also offered mail-ordered copies of content for those that did not want to download said via modem.<ref>{{cite book|page=127|title=The Joy of CyberSex: An Underground Guide to Electronic Erotica|author=Phillip Robertson|year=1993|isbn=1566861071|publisher=Brady Games}}</ref> Event Horizons in later years ran on the TBBS system.<ref>{{cite magazine|page=389|magazine=PC Magazine|date=June 28, 1994|title=World's Most Expensive BBS}}</ref> In 1996, Maxey closed the BBS.
Event Horizons BBS originally offered online forums, games, and astronomy images<ref name="Oregonian"/><ref name="Boardwatch">{{cite journal|journal=Boardwatch Magazine|title=Event Horizons' Voyager III Multimedia Tour of Solar System|date=February 1994}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book|title=Obscene Profits: Entrepreneurs of Pornography in the Cyber Age|page=64|author=Frederick S. Lane|isbn=978-0415920964|year=1999|publisher=Routledge}}</ref> Maxey and his team of programmers working for the BBS created an interactive, graphical game called ''Voyager III'' that allowed the players to explore space.<ref name="Oregonian"/><ref name="Boardwatch"/>
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.<ref>{{cite book|page=160|title=Web Wizard's Guide to HTML|author=Wendy Lehnert |year=2002|isbn=0201741725|publisher=Addison-Wesley}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|page=33|title=Stigma and the Shaping of the Pornography Industry|author=Georgina Voss|isbn=978-0415821179|publisher=Routledge|year=2015}}</ref> The BBS complied with copyright law in the wake of the settlement.<ref>{{cite book|page=97|title=Aether Madness: An Offbeat Guide to the Online World|author=Gary Wolf|year=1995|isbn=9781566090209|publisher=Peachpit}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.facebook.com/JimMaxeyHistory/ Facebook page] *[http://cu-digest.org/CUDS4/cud426.txt Playboy Lawsuit] *[http://www.bbsdays.com/ BBS Days]
Category:Bulletin board systems Category:Lake Oswego, Oregon Category:Defunct companies based in Oregon Category:Companies disestablished in 1994 Category:Companies established in 1983 Category:1983 establishments in Oregon Category:1994 disestablishments in Oregon