The conversation shifts to the nuts and bolts of running one of the internet's most popular talk radio websites in the late 1990s. Keith explains the partnership with AudioNet in Dallas for live streaming, the challenges of printing from dark-background web pages, and the new registration system for chat rooms designed to keep out disruptive users. Art and Keith also discuss the explosive growth of the Art Bell Chat Clubs forming across the country, with a new toll-free number for inquiries.
The episode offers a fascinating time capsule of the early web era, when 2.6 million visitors was a staggering number, real audio streaming was cutting-edge technology, and a simple April Fool's joke could draw the attention of federal law enforcement.
Key Moments
Anatomy of the fake FBI seizure notice: Webmaster Keith Rowland describes the April 1, 1997 prank: replacing artbell.com with a Department of Justice/FBI press release announcing the site had been seized over a Heaven's Gate investigation, complete with hidden joke names like 'Special Agent Ms. May I Pull Your Leg' and 'Commander John Wasajoker.'
The actual FBI cease-and-desist letter: 30 days later, dated May 9, the FBI sent Rowland's partner Myron McCloud a letter warning that 'misuse of the FBI name and or seal without authorization is punishable by law,' demanding the joke page be removed and noting the U.S. Attorney's Office San Diego had been apprised - which Rowland then posted on the website.
2.6 million visitors to artbell.com in 1997: Rowland reveals the site had taken in roughly 2.6 million visitors to the main page since the start of the year - a striking 1997 traffic figure for a radio companion site, and the reason any small thing posted there generated huge ripples.