Delivered-To: infinity@mail.utexas.edu
Mail-For: <arete@benturner.com>
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1999 18:53:32 -0500
To: "5. ben turner (5:17) [original master copy]" <arete@benturner.com>
From: "Michael Silberkleit" <e-mail removed>
Subject: A Little Girl's Web Site

In case you had not heard, I am pleased to say that 
Veronica Sams will continue to have her veronica.org 
web site.  Please allow me a moment of your time to
explain how this situation came about.

When we first learned of the site a few months ago, it 
was an inactive site that had been registered by David
Sams Industries Inc. and we had no idea what would go 
up on the site.  We were concerned that we might be 
facing a repeat of an earlier situation.

In 1997, someone had put up an archie.com site that 
contained pornographic material.  We were very upset 
that such a site associated with our character's name 
would have material unsuitable for small children.
Concerned parents began to e-mail us thinking we were 
responsible for the content because of the domain name.
After extensive discussions with the owners failed to 
convince them to take the site down, we decided that 
the best way to solve this problem was to buy it from 
them.  We did this because we believe we have an 
obligation to the children who may be searching for
material based on the names of our characters, not 
because we needed another domain name.

I can understand your concerns about the veronica.org
web site since initial press reports made it appear 
that we were trying to deny a little girl her web site.
Our sole intent was to protect children from seeing 
objectionable material on the Internet when they 
accessed what they might think is an "archie" web site. 

Given that David and Renee Sams were unaware of our 
previous problem, it is also understandable that they
were initially upset with our action.  However, as soon
as we saw that it was a site dedicated to their daughter,
we withdrew our request to place the domain on hold. I 
am happy to report that I met with the Sams, we shook 
hands and put this unfortunate matter behind us.

Now that you know the circumstances, I hope that you too 
will understand our actions.

For your convenience, we have gathered a number of links
to articles regarding the chronology and happy settlement
of this matter.  To see them, please visit our web site, at:
    http://www.archiecomics.com/insideacp/inthenews.html

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Sincerely,
Michael Silberkleit,
Chairman and Co-Publisher