XS4ALL
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XS4ALL office at Sloterdijk, Amsterdam
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| Industry | Internet service provider |
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| Predecessor | Hacktic Net |
| Founded | Hack-Tick and NEABBS |
| Founder | Felipe Rodriguez-Svensson Rop Gonggrijp Paul Jongsma Cor Bosman |
| Headquarters | Netherlands, Amsterdam |
| Services | Internet, TV and Telephone |
| Owner | xs4all |
| Parent | KPN |
| Website | http://www.xs4all.nl/en/ |
XS4ALL (a play on the English pronunciation of access for all) is the third-oldest Internet service provider (ISP) in the Netherlands, after NLnet and SURFnet. XS4ALL was the second company to offer Internet access to private individuals, since 1993. Founded in 1993 as an offshoot of the hackers club Hack-Tic by Felipe Rodriquez, Rop Gonggrijp, Paul Jongsma and Cor Bosman, while based in Amsterdam. Initially only offering dial-in services via modem and ISDN today it offers dial-up access as well as Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) and fiber-optic (FTTH) services as well as mobile internet. As of 2007, XS4ALL was one of the larger ISPs in The Netherlands. In 2005, the company had a turnover of 86.1 million euro, realising a 15.4 million euro profit before taxes. Also in 2005, XS4ALL employed 327 people (325 FTE) and served 265,000 private subscribers. The company is known for its willingness to take on controversial issues; has taken legal action against spammers, and fought over other legal issues in court, such as Scientology vs. the Internet.
In 1995 members of the Church of Scientology caused a raid on the servers of Dutch Internet provider XS4ALL as part of a bigger conflict with its online critics and sued it and Karin Spaink for copyright violations because of citing out of some confidential materials of Scientology. A summary judgment followed in 1995, full proceedings in 1999, an appeal in 2001 which has been upheld by the Supreme Court of Netherlands in December 2005, all in favor of the provider and Karin Spaink, putting freedom of speech above copyright in some cases. From these days there is also a relationship with NGO Bits of Freedom, an organisation promoting Freedom of Speech: BoF was a strong supporter for Karin in her fight with Scientology.
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Wikipedia