About Hake Internet Projects

Overview: The Internet

The Internet is the fastest growing large-scale enterprise in human history. Started by the U.S. Government in 1969 as ARPANet, the last government backbone was removed from service in 1995. The Internet is now entirely decentralized and essentially private. Extending to cities around the planet, it offers unlimited potential for creativity, public service, and commerce. We are still near the start of the growth curve. The United States has by far the highest national concentration of telecommunications resources, but only an estimated 7-10 percent of the U.S. population has an online account, according to a Microsoft Corporation statement in July 1995. This figure includes people who do not yet have Internet access. Originally a means for defense-related information-sharing, and then extending to university communities, the Internet has, within the last year or two, become accessible to the general public.

In the early 1990s, CERN, a European research institution, pioneered a new interface or front-end for the Internet called the World Wide Web. The Web is based on the concept of hypertext links between documents, pictures, and other kinds of information. It is a way to store information on computers so that it can be accessed using friendly graphical interfaces called Web browsers. The first browser, NCSA's Mosaic, dominated the Web until late last year. Then, Netscape Communications came out of nowhere and grabbed close to an 80 percent market share for this new and important class of software with its Mozilla browser. The Web has taken off like wildfire into the public consciousness, sparking a stampede of new users to the Internet. There is tremendous ongoing growth on the Web, and businesses and individuals are racing to establish a presence by erecting customized Web sites. Among its many uses, the Web is ideal for marketing and advertising. Within a relatively short time, it may largely replace the standard advertising function now fulfilled by telephone company Yellow Pages.
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Our Vision

We share a vision of combining entrepreneurial success over the Internet while acting in the public interest -- a blend of public-spirited and intelligently designed information services. Our motivation is primarily creative and moral. We expect to generate profits, because we believe our creative vision will be popular and valuable. Enterprises that offer a valuable service, a clear vision, and the means and energy to pursue that vision, have consistently been successful. We believe we fall in that category.

Our first major project focuses on immigration law. We are now hosting Immigration Lawyers on the Web, the premier immigration resource on the Internet, with nearly 100 law firms represented.

We also believe it is important to dedicate a portion of our time, money and network resources to charitable purposes and also to aim to give something back to the community of the Internet. For the moment, we have decided only to pledge part of our operating profits to support Amnesty International, a vital force in the global cause of freedom. We also plan to select at least one local charity to support, and will constantly be thinking of ways to support good works in other ways such as free exposure on the World Wide Web. We invite suggestions and inquiries regarding this heartfelt aim of our common enterprise.
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Personnel

Bruce A. Hake is a lawyer in private practice in Silver Spring, Maryland. He is a past Chairman of the Ethics Committee of the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), has testified in court as an expert witness on immigration law and legal ethics, and has written and lectured extensively in those fields.

He also spent a year in a Ph.D. program in information science, programs in the C++ and other computer languages, and is knowledgeable about computers, network communications and Internet technology. His goal is to work half-time on immigration law, out of a sense of duty, and half-time on Internet projects, out of a sense of adventure.

Judy L. Hake is Bruce's wife. Following the death of Hake Internet Projects' Chairman and Webmaster, Gordon W. Hake, on July 18, 1997, Judy received a battlefield promotion to Webmaster for the company. Her background in printing composition and computers, and her close working relationship with Gordon, aids in the difficult transition.

Judy has handled administrative and billing duties for HIP since its beginning in September 1995. She has also developed True Spice, a Web site devoted to singles who are looking for their soulmates. This is a labor of love, inspired by the fact that she and Bruce met each other on Prodigy, the online service. The warm and vibrant graphics on the site are a tribute to the creative talents of Gordon, who produced them as a labor of love for his sister-in-law.

Gordon W. Hake, Chairman and Webmaster of Hake Internet Projects, died on July 18, 1997, due to a brain aneurysm. The work he did while he was with the company remains as a memorial to a dear and talented man. Most of Immigration Lawyers on the Web was built by Gordon. Through boundless energy and dedication, he left his mark on the World Wide Web in many ways.

In August 1995, his tribute to Jerry Garcia, was rated among the top 5% of all web sites by Point Survey, selected as a co- "Spider's Pick of the Day," prominently featured in dozens of music-related Web sites, and pictured in People Magazine.

He also created a tutorial named W3 Writer that has helped thousands of people learn how to write HTML for free since May 1995. Though he didn't have time later to keep it current, the site's continuing relevance to today's HTML novices testifies to the value of his contribution.

Bruce and Judy plan to build a memorial Web site for Gordon in the near future.

Executive Board

HIP's Board includes these distinguished attorneys:

Franco Capriotti, Esq.

Mark A. Ivener, Esq.

Laurence F. Johnson, Esq.

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