ISP. Founded in 1992, Demon Internet was one of the first ISPs in Britain. The rise of the 'Free ISPs' such as FreeServe hit this internet legend hard.

In May 1st, 1998, Demon Internet was purchased by Thus (the new name for ScottishTelecom) - the telecommunications division of ScottishPower

- from http://www.demon.net

Despite its waning popularity Demon still has a major influence over the industry as the Lawrence Godfrey case demonstrates. Generally considered to be the ISP favoured by techie types, it has a loyal following of supported clients who still use obsolete and estoric platforms such as amigas. Was owned by Cliff Stanford who now runs the successful Redbus.

Demon introduced the standard dialup pricing in the UK of a tenner a month which has stayed fixed for at least the last six years. Most of the other ISPs were forced to follow suit.

Many people continue to shell out for a Demon account because so many online communities block free ISP addresses, because there is no charge for tech support and because they offer a fixed IP address to users. (Free ISPs typically charge 50 pence a minute for help services.)

Also, ten pounds a month is a reasonable amount to pay to avoid the overwhelming quantity of advertising that ISPs like Freeserve throw at you.