Here's the "real scoop":

WHAT IS ICQ (I SEEK YOU)?

The ICQ program overcame the main obstacle that prohibited the Internet from becoming a truly real-time, two way, interactive, person-to-person global communication system.

The ICQ program enables you to "dial" anyone on the Net at your discretion, without having to make any prior arrangements with him or her. In fact, the recipient of the call needs only to install this program. There after, he or she will always, when on the Internet, be alerted when you are contacting him/her. The program will indicate to you, who of your list of designated frequent contacts, is logged-in at any given point in time, ready to receive Internet communications.

With ICQ you can initiate communication with anyone on the Internet at anytime, be it by text, voice, graphics, video or games. You can even send entire URLs. Messages are delivered directly to the recipient's computer, without the need for downloading.

If the recipient is "logged in", he or she can respond immediately and open a direct line of communication with you. If not, your message will be saved and be made available to the recipient as soon as he or she comes on line.

No longer will you search in vain for friends or associates on the net. ICQ does the searching for you, alerting you in real time when they sign on, thus eliminating the need to conduct a directory search each time you want to communicate with a specific person.

ICQ runs in the background and allows you to work and play on other applications while keeping track of incoming messages as well as the log-in status of your Internet associates.

DOWNLOADING: If you wish to download our Windows 95, Windows NT, Windows 3.x, Mac or Java versions you can download a copy of the program or for more information regarding ICQ, see our homepage at http://www.mirabilis.com