FidoNet Star Wars Echo

The FidoNet Star Wars Echo was a FidoNet "echomail" message forum distributed on bulletin board systems in the 1990s. Discussing George Lucas' Star Wars saga and pre-dating the modern Internet, it was one of the earliest influential forms of Star Wars on-line fandom.

History
Founded on February 25, 1991 by Eli "Skip" Shayotovich, the Star Wars Echo quickly became one of the most popular forums within FidoNet. Launched a few months before The Thrawn Trilogy novels, the Echo was uniquely placed to become a focal point of on-line Star Wars fandom just as the Expanded Universe was coming into focus, and leading up to the announcement of Episode I and discussion of the prequel trilogy of films.

The arrival of the Internet quickly eroded the use of BBS systems and FidoNet, but Echo members made the migration and created some of the most important early Star Wars fan web sites. Naturally, some Echo members also became involved in the rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc (RASSM) newsgroup, while others can still be found lurking around the message forums on StarWars.com and other fan sites, such as TheForce.Net.

Contributors
Noteworthy participants in the Echo message forum included Star Wars authors Kevin J. Anderson (who included a reference to FidoNet in his early Star Wars novels), Brian Daley, Vonda McIntyre, L. Neil Smith, Kathy Tyers, Tom Veitch, Timothy Zahn, and occasional Lucasfilm representatives.

Other important contributors to the success of the Echo included co-moderators Brent Lynch, David Sentz and Mike Schwab -- along with Kevin Cox, Mike Farnham, Dave Thomer and Mike Hollis, among others.

Achievements
In November 1994, the Echo launched a monthly newsletter/fanzine entitled Out of the Maw. Echo member Rich Mason also compiled his own fanzine, entitled Starfighter Command.

In late 1994, some members of the Echo attempted to compile a CD-ROM containing all of the Star Wars digital media -- images, sound files, text documents, etc. -- that were available on-line at that time (very little by modern standards). It was a non-profit endeavor, asking members to pay only the cost of the blank CD-ROM. However, when members approached Lucasfilm's licensing department for permission to create the CDs, that permission was denied, and the CD-ROM was never distributed.

However, this attempt by the fans did encourage LucasArts to create some early commercial Star Wars media compilations -- and it was also the initial impetus for Lucasfilm to begin thinking seriously about how to interact with networked on-line fans, and to develop a strategy to deal with the protection of their intellectual property.

Trivia
Echo moderator Skip Shayotovich later served double-duty as president of the America Online Star Wars Fan Club (link), but was unsuccessful in having his personal BBS, "Star Wars Central", officially sanctioned by Lucasfilm. A letter from Shayotovich was printed in the comic book Star Wars: Dark Empire #1, which is now highly collectible.