By Tony Hallett, 9 July 1998 06:39
NEWS PSINet has bought four Internet service providers (ISPs) for $46m (£28m) in cash, including the surprise purchase of Berlin-based INX. Just hours before the INX acquisition, PSINet said it plans to remove all its Web servers from Germany. The move was prompted by the landmark ruling in a Bavarian court which found the head of CompuServe's operations in the country liable for pornography posted on the service. Now a question mark hangs over PSINet's plans for INX's servers, industry watchers claim. However, Valerie Holt, managing director of PSINet UK, told Silicon News the INX purchase shows the company's commitment to the German market - Europe's largest market for Internet services. It also denies pulling servers from the country will significantly affect the performance of customers' connections. "The court ruling implies that we as ISPs are responsible for all the material on our Web servers, including information in newsgroups. But there's no possible way we can monitor all the traffic. It's not our job to be censors," she added. PSINet said it will continue to develop the INX brand name for dial-up customers in Germany, but the possibility remains that its servers will still be pulled from the country. In addition to INX, PSINet also picked up LinkAge Online in Hong Kong, SCII-CalvaPro in France, and ioNET Internetworking Services in Oklahoma. Edward Postal, PSINet senior vice president and chief financial officer, said: "With these acquisitions, PSINet is on track to meet its target of 100 per cent revenue growth for 1998 through a mix of organic growth and acquisitions."
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