CoyoteNet Not Connected With Dismantling Of Deja

by John "Hannibal" Smith (CoyoteNet)

COYOTE CENTRAL, AFSH, 15-FEB-2001: AFSH 989th Circuit Court ruled today that CoyoteNet Communications Corp. and its CEO James "Coyote" Calhoun were in no way connected with the shutdown and subsequent breaking up of Deja.com, popular web-based Usenet posting site and CoyoteNet's main competitor in the AFSH news archiving service.

When it was announced on February 12th that Deja had shut down and its services were being transferred to other companies, the Internet Standards Committee subpoenaed several CoyoteNet executive members to investigate allegations that foul play was involved on CoyoteNet's behalf. The hearing took place February 13th, where CoyoteNet CEO Calhoun (a known outspoken critic of Deja) and other executive members were questioned about whether they had any connections to the Deja closings.

The hearing lasted only 35 minutes, CoyoteNet lawyer Alex Weitzman's defense consisting soley of asking the council of judges, "C'mon, do you really think anyone with a shred of self-respect would actually go near a hellhole like Deja, much less stay there long enough to sabotage something?" After deliberating for 5 minutes, the council made its ruling that CoyoteNet had no connections to the closings or breakup. Shortly afterward, Mr. Calhoun stated; "I'm not surprised with the ruling, since we run a clean organization." He then excused himself to retrieve his briefcase from the trenchcoated man in the alley who was safeguarding it for him.

Deja.com's Usenet archives are currently in the custody of Google, and they expect proper searching and posting functions to be fully operational again Any Day Now.

[Photo from www.su-tv.net, (C) DiC Entertainment]