Association of Shareware Professionals - The World's #1 Trade Organization for Independent Software Developers and Vendors

The board of directors of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP) has named Kathy Salisbury of West Union as vice-president of the association.

Kathy attended Notre Dame High School, Ohio Dominican College, and Ohio State University. She worked at Battelle Institute in Columbus, transcribing Russian and German technical journals. She also worked as a communications technician for GTE in Portsmouth for 18 years, received a lifetime FCC radiotelephone license, and received certificates in electronic engineering, and a degree in electronic technology.

Self-taught as a computer programmer and graphics artist, Kathy started writing computer games as a hobby with her son, William Cassidy. William wrote the stories and music for two of the early adventure games, and currently works as a programmer and writer in Newport Beach, California.

Kathy founded her company, Pharos Games, in December of 1999. The company specializes in educational games based on history and literature. Cherokee Trails, based on historical research of the Cherokee history and folklore, is being distributed by Scholastic Inc, the global award-winning multimedia company th at supplies software for teachers.

The ASP is a not-for-profit international association of independent software developers, marketers and vendors, most of whom use the try-before-you-buy method of software distribution. For more information, visit their consumer information web site at http://asp-shareware.com.

2004 Officers February 08, 2004

Dave Gjessing was appointed as the new ASP President, but stepped down for personal reasons after a brief time. Jessica Dewell was appointed as ASP President, after she resigned the Chairman of the Board position. Gregg Seelhoff was appointed the new Chairman of the Board. The 2004 ASP Vice President is Kathy Salisbury. The Treasurer is Fred Clabuesch, and the Secretary is Michael Dulin.

Area Man (Dennis Reinhardt) Elected to Association of Shareware Professionals Board of Directors December 30, 2003

Dennis Reinhardt, of DAIR Computer Systems, Palo Alto, was recently elected to the board of directors of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). The ASP is a not-for-profit association of over 1,300 independent software developers, marketers and vendors, most of whom use the try-before-you-buy method of software distribution.

Dennis has served the ASP as the Sergeant at Arms and Chair of the PAD Specs committee. PAD (Portable Applications Description) is a cross-platform, industry standard for exchanging descriptive information on software applications electronically. PAD is the basis for automated software distribution, both free and commercial. He was also instrumental in the development of the PAD Kit.

Dennis has an extensive background in computer software, hardware and communications. Dennis holds bachelor's degrees from MIT in Humanities ('65) and Electrical Engineering ('66). He did master's level work at MIT in computer science, USC and University of Chicago in management. He also studied Japanese language at Intel University.

Dennis worked for Intel from 1989 to 1999, as an architect for the Mobile and Home Products Group (MHPG). While a Senior Architect at Intel, Reinhardt participated in standards definitions which served as the basis for mobile computer requirements in the late 1990's.

Dennis founded DAIR Computer Systems in January, 1999, and developed SpamAI, a multi-user client-server email anti-spam application, coded almost entirely in Python.

Dennis has been awarded 7 patents, was inventor of Cached System Management Mode and Non-Linear Throttling, sole inventor of Synchronized File Delete and Screen Power Saving, second inventor of Thermal Sensing Circuit, Displaying Graphics, and System Thermal Management.

He has been 3 times Chair of the Santa Clara Valley of the IEEE Computer Society and also once General Chair of the Hot Chips 8 conference held at Stanford and attended by about 850 people.

For more information on the ASP, visit our consumer information web site at http://asp-shareware.com/ .

2003 Election Results December 23, 2003

Scott Swedorski, Richard Joseph, and Dennis Reinhardt won Board seats in the 2003 Annual Meeting.

Kevin Provance Appointed Assistant to the Sergeant at Arms December 12, 2003

The ASP President has appointed Kevin Provance as Assistant to the Sergeant at Arms. This new position has been created due to the high volume of messages in the active ASP newsgroups. Kevin will serve as part-time SaA when needed to help supervise the ASP newsgroups.

Michael Dulin new Sergeant at Arms. December 05, 2003

Michael Dulin has been appointed the ASP's new Sergeant at Arms, replacing Richard Joseph.

ASP Establishes New Software Download Site November 29, 2003

The Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP), a not-for-profit association of independent software developers, marketers and vendors, most of whom use the try-before-you-buy method of software distribution, has recently launched a software download site at http://downloads.asp-shareware.com/.

This site lists software from developer members of the ASP in categories such as business applications, educational software, multimedia programs, Internet and computer utilities, and games. ASP members are known worldwide for creating quality software at reasonable prices.

The ASP has over 1,000 members some with as much a forty years experience in developing software. Shareware programs offer high quality, low costs, and, best of all, the ability to "test drive" the software before you decide to pay for it.

The site ensures the freshest listings because it polls each developer's web site daily, using PAD, another ASP initiative.. You may browse by category or use the search feature provided. If you do not find what you are looking for, the site also offers a Vendor Links section for a list of other software download sites.

For more information, visit our consumer information web site at http://asp-shareware.com/.

The Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP) board of directors has appointed Oliver Grahl to the position of PAD Support and PADGen Maintenance manager. November 29, 2003

The ASP created the Portable Application Description (PAD), which allows program authors to describe their products in detail, in a standard XML format that can be easily used by the Internet sites' webmasters. Along with the PAD standard, the ASP developed a library of PC software that makes it easy for authors, webmasters, and all interested parties to use PAD. PADGen, the flagship product of this collection of utilities, won the 2001 award for Best Overall Utility.

PADGen is available for free from the ASP. The ASP maintains a repository of PAD files for members and non-members alike. There is also a PAD Support newsgroup available to developers and webmasters.

Oliver hails from the city of Landshut, which is near Munich, Germany. He published his first shareware program in 1996, while studying mechanical engineering . After completing his degree, Oliver went into the software business fulltime. His company, Oliver Grahl Software Design, designs shareware products for information management, online cost control, desktop utilities and an add-on for Outlook Express. The company also offers out-of-the-box products that can be customized for and licensed by the companies at a fixed price, as well as custom software development.

Oliver is also a longtime active member of the German equivalent of the ASP, which is SAVE (German Shareware Authors Association) which has about 1000 author members.

Oliver has been an active promoter of PAD within the SAVE community. He recognized that there was not very much interest in adapting the PAD standard at first, so Oliver offered a free localized tool to create PAD files for SAVE members.

He has also offered other free services to promote PAD, including a PAD based directory, sample code for PAD integration into download archives and the PAD Factsheets. Thanks to his efforts, today there are about two thousand PAD files from German vendors, as well as many software directories that support PAD.

Oliver says he looks forward to maintaining PadGen, planning to soon release an updated version that will support the current PAD specifications. Eric Peckham has already implemented the first beta version, and Oliver will be finishing up his work. Both Oliver and the ASP thank Eric Peckham for his prior work and support of PadGen.

For more information about PAD and PADGen, visit the ASP web site at http://www.asp-shareware.com/ or contact The Association of Shareware Professionals, 157-F Love Avenue, Greenwood IN 46142. Phone: (317) 888-2194 Fax: (317) 888-2195 E-mail: execdir@asp-shareware.org.

Sheila Manning new Event Coordinator November 08, 2003

The ASP Board of Directors has appointed Sheila Manning as the new Event Coordinator. Sheila will replace Jason Strautman, who has held this position since September, 2002.

Paul Marrington to Write Upload News November 07, 2003

Paul Marrington has agreed to write the ASPects "Upload News" column. Paul will replace Richard Joseph in this capacity. Richard Joseph has been providing this valuable news service to ASP members since April of 2002.

Ed Pulliam Appointed PR Chair November 06, 2003

The ASP Board of Directors has appointed Ed Pulliam as the new PR Chair. The PR committee will discuss ideas for promoting the image of the ASP and its members.

Gold Standard Committee September 19, 2003

The ASP Board has set up a Gold Standard Committee. Originally proposed by Board member Sam Bellotto, the idea behind this program is to establish a standard of excellence for ASP members' software. The committee will have the goal of establishing criteria which qualifying software would have to meet, and the process and methods for evaluating the software.

Dennis Volodomanov is the Chair, with 17 committee members.

New Member Review Committee September 19, 2003

The ASP Board has set up a New Member Review Committee. This committee will be working out a procedure to review membership applications. It's the committee's task to work out a review process and discuss standards that may be needed to insure professionalism in our group

Jeff Bramwell has volunteered to lead the committee, which will investigate the need for professional standards in the ASP.

Michael Dulin To Be New ASP Secretary September 13, 2003.

Dave Gjessing resigned as ASP Secretary, in order to devote more time to his own business. Michael Dulin, CEO of Shareware Junkies, was elected by the ASP Board as his replacement in the office of ASP Secretary.

Special Meeting Results: ASP Reincorporated in Texas June 02, 2003

The Secretary reported the results of the Special Meeting about the ASP reincorporation. The decision of the Board of Directors of Old ASP to incorporate a nonprofit corporation under the laws of the State of Texas to be called the Association of Shareware Professionals, Inc. was overwhelmingly approved by a vote of 879 to 1.

Two New Directors Chosen in a Mid-term Election March 03, 2003

Don Watkins and Scott Kane were elected to the ASP Board of Directors in the Special Meeting which ended March 2, 2003. Because there were two open seats during the middle of an existing term, Don and Scott will serve until the end of 2003, when the term of the vacant board seats will be up for re-election.

Sheila Manning to be new Welcome Committee Chair. January 18, 2003

The ASP Board appointed Sheila Manning as the new Welcome Committee Chair. Sheila will replace Fred Clabuesch, who is stepping down in order to assume the role of ASP Treasurer. The Board extended thanks to Fred for his excellent past work and for accepting the officer position.

Fred Clabuesch Appointed ASP Treasurer January 17, 2003

Following the resignation of Jerry Medlin, Fred Clabuesch was appointed ASP Treasurer in a unanimous vote.

2003 Officers Selected January 15, 2003

Elected Officers were:

President -- Terry Swiers
Vice President -- Larry McJunkin
Secretary -- Dave Gjessing

2003 Board Elected December 08, 2002

Members selected 3 new board members during its annual election.

Jessica Dewell
Jury Gerasimov
Gregg Seelhoff

Sam Bellotto Jr, Brad Marcum, and Ed Ross were elected to two-year terms last year and will remain on the board in 2003.

Kathy Salisbury Appointed as the ASP's Volunteer Coordinator. December 03, 2002

The ASP Board appointed Kathy Salisbury to replace Mike Burda as Volunteer coordinator.

Richard Joseph Appointed as the ASP's Sergeant at Arms. November 22, 2002

After posting his resignation, Chris Paris was thanked by ASP members and the Board of Directors for stepping up to help as Sergeant at Arms during the past year. The Board appointed Richard Joseph, who also writes an ASPect column called Upload News, to replace him. The Sergeant at Arms must read and monitor the ASP's newsgroups.

Jean Cyr Appointed to replace Gordon Whittam as Member Offer Coordinator October 25, 2002

Gordon Whittam stepped down from his position as member-to-member discount coordinator, and Jean Cyr was appointed to fill this role. ASP members thanked Gordon for a job well done, in sorting out the many member discounts and offers, announcing them in the members newsgroup, and writing these up for the ASPects newsletter.

Jason Strautman Appointed Event Coordinator September 12, 2002

The ASP Board of Directors created a new position of Event Coordinator, and appointed Jason Strautman to the position. The duties of the position will include oversight and coordination of the ASP Events Committee; assisting with travel arrangements for representatives attending various events; and make budgetary recommendations to the Board of Directors regarding the various events identified.

Terry Swiers Selected For Membership Database Project August 20, 2002

The ASP Board of Directors accepted Terry Swiers' bid on the Membership Database Project. Terry has agreed to do the project at no cost to the ASP.

Mike Burda Appointed Volunteer/Proposal Coordinator August 14, 2002

Mike Burda was appointed as the ASP's Volunteer/Proposal Coordinator. Mike will work with the volunteers to keep the projects on track, and keep the Board up to date on the progress of the various projects.

Eric Peckham Selected For PAD Support Position July 30, 2002

The ASP Board of Directors accepted Eric Peckham's bid to fill the ASP's official PAD Support Position.

Two New Directors Chosen in a Mid-term Election May 24, 2002

Due to two mid-term resignations, there were two vacancies on the ASP Board of Directors. Because each of the two departing directors were in the second year of their term, the board members chosen in this election will serve only until the end of 2002.

Mike Raustad and Gregg Seelhoff who were elected to fill the two board member positions.

Download Site Proposal Approved May 06, 2002

A motion to accept the proposal submitted by the download site committee was accepted. This site will utilize the current asp-shareware.com domain, and will be a cornerstone of the ASP's consumer-oriented Web site.

Special Election Called Due to Mid-term Resignations May 02, 2002

Due to the mid-term resignations of Sharon Housley and Dave Collins, there are two vacancies on the ASP Board of Directors. A Special Election has been called to elect two new Directors. Also, Marie Finch has been appointed to replace Kathy Salisbury as ASP Secretary.

Special Meeting Called to Propose Two Bylaw Changes April 08, 2002

A Special Meeting was called to propose two changes to the ASP bylaws. Ballots were sent to the members, and the voting closed at 5:00 pm PST on April 7. The two bylaw changes passed by a large majority.

ASP Download Site Committee Explores Options March 19, 2002

In response to member requests, a discussion group was set up to consider implementing an official ASP link site. The group, headed by Kent Briggs of Briggs Softworks, has already developed a working prototype for the site. Many thanks go to Kent and this hard-working group of volunteers for investigating this potential member benefit. The group will eventually present a plan to the ASP Board.

New "Hot Topics" FAQ Committee March 18, 2002

The ASP Board set up a special committee room to discuss and create new FAQs. A big thank you goes to Al Harberg for acting as the moderator of the group. Al will also be compiling the discussions and presenting them in a useful format for the web site. Some of the topics that will be explored over the coming months are: (1) should I use reg codes, or have a separate "full" version of my program; (2) should I allow users to register my software if they haven't downloaded it first; (3) should I use hardware locking to help prevent piracy and fraud; (4) what percentage of users will likely register my software; and (5) should I have a credit card merchant account or use a registration service? Please stop by the FAQ committee room if you would like to contribute to these FAQs, or if you have additional ideas for the group to explore

New Chairman For International Shareware Week February 22, 2002

Mike Dulin was appointed as the Chairman of the ASP's Shareware Week Committee. Mike is best known to ASP members as the owner of the SharewareJunkies download site. The International Shareware Week Committee was created in order to promote the shareware concept, the ASP, and our members. Mike has been a member since 1997, so you can be sure that he knows a great deal about the shareware concept and the ASP. The Board has every confidence that Mike will make a great leader for this effort.

New Education Committee Chair Named January 28, 2002

New Chairman For International Shareware Week February 22, 2002

Website Content Editor Appointed January 26, 2002

Kathy Salisbury of Pharos Games was appointed as the ASP's website content editor. Following the completion of the website overhaul now in progress, she will be responsible for keeping content up to date, providing industry information to members through the members' only pages, and provide content attractive to non-members on the public pages.

PR Chairman Appointed January 11, 2002

Al Harberg of DP Directory was appointed as the ASP's Public Relations Chairman.

ASP Selects New Chairman of the Board January 02, 2002

Ed Ross of PC Talent was named Chairman of the Board.

2002 Officers Selected January 02, 2002

Elected Officers were:

President -- Terry Swiers
Vice President -- Larry McJunkin
Treasurer -- Jerry Medlin
Secretary -- Kathy Salisbury

ASP Appoints New Webmaster, Sergeant-at-Arms January 02, 2002

Jason Strautman of Universal Hint System was appointed as the ASP's new webmaster. Dennis Reinhardt was appointed of DAIR Computer Systems was appointed as the Sergeant-at-Arms.

Jason Strautman and Jerry Stern of Science Translations were awarded contracts to update the ASP's website.

2002 Board Elected December 08, 2001

Members selected 3 new board members during its annual election.

Ed Ross
Sam Bellotto Jr.
Brad Marcum

Dave Collins, Jessica Dewell, and Sharon Housley were elected to two-year terms last year and will remain on the board in 2002.

ASP Selects New Chairman of the Board October 05, 2001

Dave Collins of Shareware Promotions was named Chairman of the Board, replacing Terry Swiers of Millennium Software LLC, who was selected to be the ASP's President.

ASP Selects New President October 05, 2001

Dave Collins of Shareware Promotions was named Chairman of the Board, replacing Terry Swiers of Millennium Software LLC, who was selected to be the ASP's President.

FTP Site Discontinued June 12, 2001

The Board of Directors decided to close the ASP FTP site. The site had always been meant as an occasional alternative or secondary file storage facility, but high traffic made the site unreliable for the members. Beginning August 15, new files will not be accepted, and all FTP service will be stopped on October 1.

New COB tapped January 04, 2001

Terry Swiers of Millennium Software LLC was named Chairman of the Board, replacing outgoing Chris Thornton of Thornsoft Development Inc.

2001 Officers Selected January 04, 2001

Elected Officers were:

President -- Steve Pavlina
Vice President -- Scott Kane
Treasurer -- Jerry Medlin
Secretary -- Kathy Salisbury

Rosemary West Tagged as an Honorary Member December 10, 2000

It was moved that an honorary membership be extended to Rosemary West in appreciation for her dedicated service over the years to the ASP, and for her many contributions to the entire shareware community.

Annual Election Held December 08, 2000

Members selected 3 new board members during its annual election.

Dave Collins
Jessica Dewell
Sharon Housley

Board terms are for two years.

ASP Board Selects New Vice President August 22, 2000

Australian author, Scott Kane of MicroNexus Software Australia, has been tapped by the Board of Directors to become the next Vice President of the ASP. Scott replaces Steve Pavlina, who was selected to be President upon Harold Holmes' retirement.

Board Selects Steve Pavlina to be Next ASP President August 15, 2000

Steve Pavlina of Dexterity Software has been selected by the Board to become the next President. Steve was previously the Vice President and replaces Harold Holmes, who is retiring at the end of August.

Harold Holmes to Retire as ASP President August 14, 2000

Harold Holmes has announced his retirement as the President of the ASP. Harold is a boardmember of the Shareware Industry Conference and will be the host liason company for the 2001 and 2002 conferences in St. Louis Missouri and will be devoting his efforts towards putting together those events. We thank Harold for all of the work he has done for the ASP. Harold will continue on as Webmaster.

ASP 2000 Hall of Fame Inductees Announced July 15, 2000

The ASP has inducted Michael Callahan, Phil Katz, Jim Knopf, Bob Ostrander, Paul Mayer and Bob Wallace into the ASP Hall of Fame. To find out more go to the Hall of Fame page.

ASP Expands Internal CD Project June 03, 2000

It was moved that the ASP expand the quarterly CD project to make it available to the Association of Personal Computer User Groups (APCUG), the press, and ISPs. The APCUG will have re-distribution rights to copy and distribute to their membership, and the ISPs will have publishing rights to make the content available online. The user interface for future CDs will be developed with end users in mind, although sponsorship information will continue to be prominently displayed. The member-to-member discount requirement is still in effect.

Board Puts Plans for PAD Mouse Pad Together March 22, 2000

The ASP Board has decided to design PAD mouse pads and give them to its members and the attendees at this year's Shareware Industry Conference, to promote PAD among members of the shareware community.

ASP Welcoming Committee Formed January 29, 2000

A Motion was passed that created the ASP Welcome Committee. This committee will assist new ASP members in becoming familiar with ASP benefits and services and help them with any questions they have about being a new ASP member. The goal of this committee is to make our new members feel welcome to ask questions about all that ASP has to offer them.

ASP Makes Plans for SIC January 16, 2000

The ASP Board has decided unanimously to have a booth at the Shareware Industry Conference again this year.

Bob Ostrander Granted Honorary Membership January 13, 2000

It was moved that an honorary membership be extended to Bob Ostrander in appreciation for his dedicated service over the years to the ASP.

2000 Officers and COB Selected January 04, 2000

Elected Officers were:

President -- Harold Holmes
Vice President -- Steve Pavlina
Treasurer -- Jerry Medlin
Secretary -- Jessica Schnepp

Chris Thornton was voted to continue on as Chairman of the Board.

ASP Elects New Secretary December 09, 1999

After the resignation of Hunter Gordon as the ASP Secretary, Jessica Schnepp was selected by the Board to become the new Secretary.

ASP Creates Newsgroup for PAD Support December 09, 1999

The ASP has created a new newsgroup that will act as an online support center for the PAD Project. You may access the group by setting your newsreader to the following group: ASP.PAD_Support

Board Forms Committee to Produce Quarterly Themed CD November 22, 1999

A committee will be formed to produce a CD to be sent to the ASP membership. The CD would be vendor-sponsored and the ASP would incur no cost. The CD would be produced quarterly.
The guidelines for the CD will be:

To be on the CD you *must* be an ASP member
The item on the CD must be discounted for ASP members.
The item must fall within the theme of the CD.
1st call for CD materials will be for authors/vendors who have not yet been on a CD. If there is room remaining on the CD, a 2nd call for material will be made and additional titles by author/vendor can be submitted.
The BoD will make final decisions on any submissions

The proposed themes for the first 4 CDs are:

1st Quarter - Internet, Promotional and Submission Tools and Services
2nd Quarter - General Applications & Accounting Applications
3rd Quarter - Programming Tools and Utilities
4th Quarter - Entertainment, Educational and Games

The themes can be modified at the discretion of the committee.

ASP Forms International Committee October 28, 1999

The Board has decided to form a committee that will look at how the ASP can support the international author community.

ASP Purchases PAD Project October 09, 1999

The ASP has decided to purchase the PAD project from Lincoln Beach Software. PAD is an open standard that allows authors to house all of their product information into one file that is easily processed by other parties. Read more about PAD by going to the PAD pages.

ASP Board Selects New Legal Counsel September 30, 1999

The ASP secured the services of Chip Cooper for ASP legal counsel. Past services were performed by Lance Rose, who has stepped down.

ASP Looks Into Purchasing New Standards Tool September 23, 1999

A committee was formed to look into purchasing the PAD and PADGen product line from Lincoln Beach Software.

ASP Board Selects New Member-to-Member Benefit Coordinator August 11, 1999

Sharon Housely of NotePager, Inc. will now coordinate the member-to-member discount/offers area for the ASP.

ASP Board Selects New Vice President June 21, 1999

Jean-Guy Ducreux, of WSKA International, was elected by the membership to replace Borje Hagsten, who is stepping down.

ASP Elects New Board Member June 19, 1999

Jean-Guy Ducreux, of WSKA International, was elected by the membership to replace Borje Hagsten, who is stepping down.

ASP Implements New FTP Site for Members May 15, 1999

This FTP site will allow ASP members to utiltize a secondary site to host their files. This great new benefit for all ASP Author Members. Mirroring the site with ISPs around the world is currently underway.

Chris Thornton Selected as New Chairman of the Board January 02, 1999

In a unanimous vote, Chris Thornton, President of ThornSoft Development, was selected to be the new Chairman of the Board. Chris has been an active member of the ASP since 1992. Chris replaces Harold Holmes, who resigned his position of COB to become President of the ASP.

Newly Elected Board Ready for 1999 December 16, 1998

Elected Board Members were:

Tom Guthery of Flix Productions
Mike Raustad of M & R Technologies
Harry Simpson of Microworks Inc.
Chris Thornton of Thornsoft Development.

Also, several changes were made to the bylaws and supporting documentation. See the Bylaws for noted changes.

New Officers Selected for 1999 December 16, 1998

Elected Officers were:

President -- Harold Holmes
Vice President -- Timothy B. Bougan
Treasurer -- Jerry Medlin
Secretary -- Bill Sturgell

New ASP Webmaster Selected December 09, 1998

The Board selected to have Harold Holmes, of Lincoln Beach Software, to become the new ASP Webmaster.

Bill Dickson Resigns, Board Selects Harold Holmes as New President November 02, 1998

Board chose to elect Harold Holmes as the new ASP President. Mr. Holmes has been an active member of the ASP for many years and owns Lincoln Beach Software.

Jan Abbott Retires as Executive Director, Rich Holler Takes Over November 17, 1997

The ASP has one full-time paid person, the Executive Director, who maintains the office and database, does mailings, and serves as the contact point for the ASP. For seven years Jan Abbott (with the able assistance of George) has been the ASP's ED. She handed over the reigns to Rich Holler on November 17th.

We want to thank Jan for all she has done above and beyond the call for the ASP and for shareware. Last June she was inducted into the SIAF's Shareware Hall of Fame.

The ASP's new address is:

Association of Shareware Professionals
157-F Love Avenue
Greenwood, IN 46142
317-888-2194 (voice 9am-4pm Indiana time)
317-888-2195 (fax)
email: execdir@asp-shareware.org
CIS: 73567,1547

This also requires a change to the Ombudsman statement ASP members all use. When they next update their program, documentation, web site, etc. they'll need to change the last sentence of the Ombudsman statement to read:

Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 157-F Love Ave., Greenwood, IN 46142 USA, FAX 317-888-2195, or send email to omb@asp-shareware.org.

Last Official ASP CD ROM Ships November 06, 1997

The last ASP CD ROM is currently being prepared and will ship to distributor members with the December ASPects. The CD ROM project was primarily aimed at Disk Vendors, who now get their evaluation version copies from the Internet and at BBS Sysops who have different problems. Neither seem to need the CD ROM anymore.

"Amateur" BBS Sysops seem to be running nice web sites now and the "For Pay" Sysops are all making big bucks as ISPs. Alright, not "all", but there is a trend.

Some Sysops mounted the ASP CD ROM for direct downloading - it was engineered with that in mind. The current format for the CD ROM contains not only the necessary FILES.BBS but also has a full HTML interface that makes putting the CD ROM on a web site painless.

Public (software) Library picked up the production of the ASP CD ROM when we needed the favor - when GT International bailed out on us. PsL patterned the current CD ROM on their regular production monthly CD ROM that they sell by subscription to distributors. It also includes an HTML interface and also has all the new software that PsL finds - from ASP members or not.