was being developed for the BBS system, new gateways systems were set up. Most notably, WWIVnet–FidoNet gateways that allowed some interconnectivity between the two traditionally hostile networks. Similar WWIVnet gateways even allowed messages to be sent to and from standard Internet email addresses and USENET newsgroups by means of the UUCP protocol. Thanks to the network implementation, WWIV sysops and their users worldwide became united to one another much in the same way forum communities exist on the Internet today. This camaraderie gave rise to WWIVCons, annual meetings where sysops and users of WWIV boards met in some central, real-life location to share stories, discuss the future of BBSing, and even hang one or two infamous sysops in effigy. It gave everyone a chance to see just what the person on the other side of the screen actually looked like in a day when GUIs and browsers with tons of pictures available at a click simply hadn't been invented yet. WWIV vs Fido: controversies and BBS wars Despite its popularity, WWIV wasn't without its share of controversy. To quite a few non-WWIV sysops, using WWIV was a sign of rebellion against the status quo; in fact, several key FidoNet administrators were quoted on several occasions that they firmly believed that running a WWIV board meant that you were probably running a "pirate" or "hacker" BBS, and that no WWIV BBS should be allowed access to FidoNet. This would lead to Bell's creation of WWIVnet in 1987, which at its peak, was the world's largest proprietary BBS network, and while the total number of systems never exceeded 1600, the sheer amount of traffic passed over the network was almost double that of FidoNet for almost a two-year period between 1991 and 1993. Current status Although BBSes have been eclipsed by the World Wide Web and the Internet, WWIV and other popular software still exist and are supported today. One popular WWIV support site is owned by Frank Reid, who runs Eagle's Dare BBS near Washington, D.C. The current 5.0 release has enhanced Internet gateway capabilities such as telnet accessibility, and other modern features. WWIV is now owned by Dean Nash aka Trader Jack; his BBS is at bbs.wwiv.com. WWIV uses the Synchronet FOSSIL driver and is released under the Apache Software License. Influences and reception Due to its popularity, WWIV influenced later BBS programs. VBBS, written by Roland DeGraaf in 1990