FidoNet Star Wars Echo The FidoNet Star Wars Echo was a " echomail " message forum distributed on in the 1990s . Discussing George Lucas ' s " Star Wars " saga and pre - dating the modern , it was one of the earliest influential forms of Star Wars on - line . 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 " " novels , the Echo was uniquely placed to become a focal point of online " Star Wars " fandom just as the Expanded Universe was coming into focus , and leading up to the announcement of and discussion of the prequel trilogy of films . Overall usage statistics are unknown , but it is known that the Echo received an average of 60 to 70 message posts per day between November 1994 and July 1995 . Echo moderator Skip Shayotovich later served double - duty as president of the America Online Star Wars Fan Club ( AOLSWFC ) on , but was unsuccessful in having his personal BBS , " Star Wars Central " , officially sanctioned by Lucasfilm . 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 websites . Naturally , some Echo members also became involved in the rec . arts . sf . starwars . misc ( RASSM ) . Contributors . Noteworthy participants in the Echo message forum included " Star Wars " authors Kevin J . Anderson ( who included FIDO as a reference to FidoNet in " Champions of the Force " ) , Roger MacBride Allen , Brian Daley , Barbara Hambly , Shane Johnson , Vonda McIntyre , L . Neil Smith , Kathy Tyers , Tom Veitch , Daniel Wallace , Timothy Zahn , actress Cheryl De Luca , and occasional Lucasfilm representatives . Other participants included people who worked for West End Games ( creators of ) , such as Sterling Hershey , and for Dark Horse Comics , such as Chris Gossett . Besides moderator Skip Shayotovich , other important fan 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 / entitled " Out of the Maw " , which was also distributed on America Online and Prodigy . Echo member Rich Mason also compiled his own fanzine , entitled " Starfighter Command " . The Echo pioneered a parallel message forum devoted to playing on - line . Due to the participation of early Star Wars authors , as well as people who worked for Lucasfilm , West End Games and Dark Horse Comics , Echo members have been credited with helping to flesh out some of the early Expanded Universe material . In late 1994 , some members of the Echo attempted to compile a containing all of the " Star Wars " digital media — images , sound files , text documents , etc . — that were available online 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 . This attempt by the fans did encourage LucasArts to create some early commercial " Star Wars " media compilations — such as — and it was also the initial impetus for Lucasfilm to begin thinking seriously about how to interact with networked online fans , and to develop a strategy to deal with the protection of their online . A letter from Shayotovich was printed in the comic book " " , which is now highly collectible . A letter from co - moderator Mike Farnham about the FidoNet Star Wars Echo was printed in Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 2 .