<s>
Bruce	O
Barkelew	O
and	O
Thomas	O
Smith	O
founded	O
the	O
company	O
to	O
develop	O
and	O
publish	O
ProComm	B-Protocol
,	O
a	O
general	O
purpose	O
communications	O
program	O
for	O
personal	B-Device
computers	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
ProComm	B-Protocol
flourished	O
in	O
the	O
pre-World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
world	O
,	O
when	O
personal	B-Device
computers	I-Device
used	O
modems	B-Application
to	O
connect	O
over	O
telephone	O
lines	O
with	O
other	O
individual	O
computers	O
,	O
online	O
services	O
such	O
as	O
CompuServe	O
,	O
bulletin	B-Application
board	I-Application
systems	I-Application
(	O
BBSs	O
)	O
,	O
Telnet	B-Protocol
and	O
Gopher	B-Protocol
sites	I-Protocol
,	O
and	O
the	O
like	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Datastorm	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
company	O
to	O
grow	O
from	O
a	O
shareware	B-License
publisher	O
into	O
a	O
large	O
commercial	O
software	O
publisher	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ProComm	B-Protocol
2.4.3	O
for	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
is	O
still	O
available	O
as	O
shareware	B-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
death	O
of	O
Andrew	O
Fluegelman	O
,	O
creator	O
of	O
PC-Talk	B-Protocol
,	O
left	O
a	O
gap	O
in	O
the	O
offerings	O
of	O
dial-up	O
communications	O
and	O
terminal	O
emulation	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bruce	O
Barkelew	O
and	O
Tom	O
Smith	O
,	O
computer	B-General_Concept
science	I-General_Concept
students	O
at	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Missouri	O
,	O
formed	O
PIL	O
Software	O
Systems	O
in	O
1985	O
to	O
develop	O
ProComm	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
distributed	O
the	O
program	O
as	O
shareware	B-License
through	O
bulletin	B-Application
board	I-Application
systems	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Based	O
on	O
the	O
program	O
's	O
popularity	O
,	O
Barkelew	O
and	O
Smith	O
founded	O
Datastorm	B-Protocol
Technologies	I-Protocol
Inc	I-Protocol
.	I-Protocol
in	O
1986	O
to	O
build	O
a	O
full-fledged	O
company	O
around	O
the	O
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
founders	O
chose	O
Columbia	O
,	O
Missouri	O
,	O
as	O
the	O
company	O
's	O
headquarters	O
because	O
of	O
the	O
relatively	O
low	O
cost	O
of	O
living	O
and	O
to	O
tap	O
into	O
the	O
pool	O
of	O
programmers	O
graduating	O
from	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Missouri	O
's	O
computer	B-General_Concept
science	I-General_Concept
department	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
produced	O
a	O
combination	O
16/32	O
-bit	O
Procomm	B-Protocol
Plus	I-Protocol
for	O
Windows	O
,	O
which	O
included	O
an	O
early	O
web	O
browser	O
called	O
Web	O
Zeppelin	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Procomm	B-Protocol
Plus	I-Protocol
for	O
Windows	O
supported	O
the	O
remote	O
imaging	O
protocol	O
(	O
RIP	O
)	O
graphic	O
terminal	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
enabled	O
display	O
of	O
higher-resolution	O
images	O
than	O
the	O
ANSI	O
escape	O
codes	O
that	O
most	O
bulletin	B-Application
board	I-Application
systems	I-Application
used	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Datastorm	O
became	O
the	O
first	O
company	O
to	O
sue	O
a	O
vendor	O
for	O
infringement	O
of	O
its	O
software	O
using	O
the	O
shareware	B-License
model	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Support	O
for	O
the	O
last	O
release	O
of	O
Procomm	B-Protocol
,	O
version	O
4.8	O
,	O
was	O
discontinued	O
in	O
2002	O
.	O
</s>
