Editing MindVox (section)

==Founding and early years==
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The distinctive logo shown to the left was the system's original [[ASCII art]] banner, appearing on the text-only service's [[Dial-up Internet access|dial-up]] login page. MindVox was originally accessible only through [[telnet]], [[File Transfer Protocol|FTP]] and direct dial-up. Its existence predates the invention of [[Secure Shell|SSH]] and widespread use of the [[World Wide Web]] by several years. In later years, MindVox was also accessible via the web.<ref name="mindvoxWeb">[https://web.archive.org/web/19961111052514/http://phantom.com/ MindVox Web Page, 1996]</ref>

The parent company, Phantom Access Technologies, Inc., took its name from a hacking program written by Kroupa during his early teens, called [[Phantom Access]].<ref name="phantomAccess">[http://www.textfiles.com/exhibits/paccess/ Phantom Access Exhibit, Textfiles.com]</ref>

MindVox functioned both as a private [[Bulletin board system|BBS]] service, containing its own dedicated discussion groups, termed "conferences" — though usually referred to as "forums" by users — as well as a provider of internet and Usenet access. By 1994 the subscriber base was at around 3,000.<ref name="subscribers">[https://archive.today/20130131152005/http://phantom.com/staticpage/Akashic/NYTimes3.html MindVox, Long a Haven for Hackers, Signs Off. NY Times]</ref> In many ways MindVox was a harder, edgier, New York incarnation of the [[WELL (virtual community)|WELL]],<ref name="wellref1">[https://archive.today/20130131060317/http://phantom.com/staticpage/Media/AssociatedPress1.html Wiring the Planet: MindVox! AP]</ref><ref name="well2">[https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.06/flux.html Wired Flux: MindVox April Fools]</ref><ref name="well3">[http://www.fiu.edu/~mizrachs/matrix-measure.html A Fortean's Guide To Computer Resources]</ref> a famous Northern [[California]]n online community. While users were drawn from all over the world, the majority lived in the [[New York City area]], and members who met through the conferences often became acquainted in person, either on their own, or through meetups that were termed "VoxMeats" (a formal gathering of members, whose ''[[double entendre]]'' name was rumored to be well-earned).

Prominent MindVox "evangelists" included sci-fi author [[Charles Platt (science-fiction author)|Charles Platt]], who wrote about MindVox for [[Wired magazine|Wired Magazine]]<ref name="MindVoxWired" /> and featured it within his book ''Anarchy Online''.<ref name="AnarchyOnline">[https://www.amazon.com/Anarchy-Online-Charles-Platt/dp/0061009903 Anarchy Online, Charles Platt]</ref> MindVox also attracted (sometimes with the aid of free accounts<ref name="comped">[http://www.textfiles.com/bbs/MINDVOX/DOCUMENTS/complimentary Welcome Letter to VIP MindVox Members with comped accounts]</ref>) artists, writers and activists, including [[Billy Idol]], [[Wil Wheaton]], [[Robert Altman]], [[Douglas Rushkoff]], [[John Perry Barlow]], and [[Kurt Cobain]]. The level of hysteria and hype surrounding MindVox was so great that in 1993 executives at [[MTV]] who were using the system wanted to buy it outright and turn MindVox into a subsidiary of [[Viacom (2005–present)|Viacom]].<ref name="MTVMindVox">[http://new.ryze.com/view.php?who=RTercek Former Viacom exec discussing MTV's possible acquisition of MindVox]</ref>