@JonathanRRogers: I was kinda generalizing that Phil Katz is a code thief.  While ZIP may be a different format and algorithm, he got into the whole thing by dishonorable means and I don't think he should be given as much credit as he does and more credit should go to Thom, whose efforts where effectively derailed by Phil.  The point is, there is a lot more to the story than what is mentioned on Wikipedia. My source material is episode 8 of the BBS: The documentary, by Jason Scott:

https://www.archive.org/details/BBS.The.Documentary