THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 11, 1994 TAG: 9407110229
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY WESLEY KILGORE, SPECIAL TO BUSINESS WEEKLY
LENGTH: Long : 119 lines
Precociousness can be a curse. Just ask Keith Basil. As a teenager, he wiled away time in front of a computer instead of a television. For years, he dreamed of cashing in on his skills. So in 1991, he co-founded Basil-Rouland, a company aimed at tightening the security of computer systems.
He would approach companies whose security systems he was able to breach, and let them know that they had a problem - and that he knew how to fix it. But, he said, his age worked against him.
``We were young, and the people we were competing with had 25 years of experience,'' Basil said. ``It was a hard sell.'' The company eventually folded.
Now, at the ripe old age of 24, he thinks he's found his niche.
LAST MONTH, BASIL AND Mark Imbriaco founded Internet Presence and Publishing Corp., which they refer to as IP2, offering businesses connections to the rapidly expanding global web of computer networks known as the Internet. Basil and Imbriaco met at Old Dominion University and worked together at NASA through a research grant.
``What we do is give a company broader access, access to a global marketplace,'' says Anil Palat, 20, vice president of IP2. Palat bankrolled most of IP2, which opened its office at the World Trade Center June 1st. Its startup cost exceeded $75,000.
According to Basil, fewer than 10 businesses in the country provide a service like theirs. Other Internet access providers in Hampton Roads, such as InfiNet and Pinnacle Online are working to establish commercial marketplaces on the Internet. But their main customers are individuals, who dial into their local systems in order to connect to the Internet.
IP2 can create a site for a business to place professional and organizational profiles, online catalogs or any other kind of information it wishes. This site can be accessed by any of the more than 20 million Internet users around the world.
For $375 to $715 per month, depending on band width of the telephone line that is used, the company will provide businesses with a site - a pipeline that allows up to 254 Internet users at once to access them.
At an additional cost, IP2 provides publishing services - slick packages that are essentially online brochures, catalogs and questionnaires which can incorporate text, graphics and sound.
IP2 created an organizational profile for Nauticus in an effort to woo it as a client. If Nauticus buys the service, any Internet user will be able to access the Nauticus site to read the text of the profile, but users must have a special kind of software called Mosaic to receive the graphics and sounds in the package.
WHETHER PROVIDING ``connectivity'' or publishing services, Basil said his goal is for IP2 to be a ``value added'' company.
Although their clientele is small at the moment, IP2 sees virtually unlimited growth potential in the global marketplace.
``Through the Internet, everybody gets an even playing field,'' said Johnny George, 25, vice president in charge of design and publishing. ``Just like Hewlett Packard and IBM can have their site on the Net, so can ENS,'' he added, referring to another IP2 client, the two-man-operated Electronics and Networking Services.
``You can't tell how large they are just by looking at their site,'' said Imbriaco, vice president in charge of network engineering.
Until recently, heavy advertising on the Internet would have been considered a violation of ``nettiquette.'' The well-known April incident in which a husband and wife law firm from Phoenix ``carpet-bombed'' the Internet by placing an ad on 6,000 electronic bulletin boards raised doubts as to how businesses and users would ever peacefully coexist in cyberspace.
BUT A POTENTIAL SOLUTION also surfaced in April in the form of CommerceNet. It's an electronic marketplace, a gateway to access all the companies that fall under their umbrella, dedicated solely to businesses and business transactions.
IP2 is a member of CommerceNet. It places its clients' ``home page'' on the CommerceNet menu along with other companies, creating a ``virtual storefront.''
On July 8, IP2 was scheduled to start offering an Internet service called ``Shopkeeper.'' Designed by Basil and Imbriaco, Shopkeeper offers users the option of selling three, five, or 10 items on-line at a rate of $20, $32.50, and $50 per month, respectively. The service enables a user to manage his ``shop'' by maintaining inventory, taking orders directly to an E-mail address, and providing product description with text or, at an additional 50 percent charge, with graphics and sound.
Basil also designed the Internet business reply forms that IP2 uses. He has applied for a trademark for the forms, which are graphic electronic replications of ordinary business forms that can be filled out and electronically mailed.
BASIL RELUCTANTLY ADMITS his computer prowess comes from a history of hacking.
``I wasn't a vicious hacker. Basically, I couldn't afford a huge system, so I hacked into other systems to learn.''
George, Imbriaco, and Palat profess to be ``reformed hackers'' as well.
``We've been down in a few manholes and we've been in trash,'' Basil said. ``But that gave us the background to be in the position we're in right now.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff color photo by BETH BERGMAN
Internet Presence and Publishing's executives in their World Trade
Center offices in downtown Norfolk: from left, Vice President Anil
Palat; President Keith Basil; co-founder Mark Imbriaco, vice
president for network engineering; and Johnny George, vice president
for design and publishing.
AT A GLANCE
INTERNET PRESENCE AND PUBLISHING CORP.
BUSINESS: Arranges business connections to the developing
computer network known as the Internet; publishes on-line
information packages incorporating text, graphics and sound.
OWNERS/STAFF: Keith Basil, Mark Imbriaco, Anil Palat, Johnny
George
LOCATION: Suite 1700, World Trade Center, downtown Norfolk
FOUNDED: June 1994
by CNB