"Our First Time" may not happen live on the Internet due to server
overload

Organizers fear they will have to drop their plans to have two 18 year
olds loose their virginity on the internet because their site is been
overwhelmed by Web surfers.

Mark Vega, an attorney for the virgin couple 'Mark' and 'Diane', said
the Aug. 4 event entitled "Our First Time" may not take place unless
they
find a server that can handle the millions of hits they're getting.

"In the past 30 hours there has been so much traffic that the server
is not even able to calculate it, but (we) estimate it is in the
hundreds
of millions", Vega told Reuters.

Vega said they've received calls from Webmasters of pornographic sites
who want to help.

But he said the event is intended to be educational, and accepting help
from an adult Web site "really defeats the whole purpose".

"What the site needs is a company that can guarantee that the world
can log on ... and is willing to do it for free. The cleaner their
profile, the better it is", said Vega, who is with the Los Angeles
law firm of Daniels, Baratta & Fine.

Vega said the Aug. 4 show draw the most hits of any event on the
Internet.
The record was set earlier this month by the World Cup Web site, which
recorded 74 million hits in one day, Reuters said.

As the Daily News reported Thursday, Internet critics have said the
event
might be a hoax. The couple, pictured on their web site
(www.ourfirstime.com) with their faces blacked out, look like actors
rather than typical 18 year olds. But Vega said he believes 'Mike' and
'Diane' are virgins.

Diane, who hasn't told her parents about her plans, said she hoped the
event would make a statement about freedom of speech, according to Vega.

Meanwhile, an online news service claims the "Our First Time" site is
linked to a former suburban St. Louis, Mo., video store owner, who
claims
he was hounded out of business by conservative religious zelots.

Ken Tipton, a video store owner turned movie producer, has links with
Vega as well as with Oscar Wells, the designer of the site, according
to ZDNet News. Tipton said in his biography on the Internet that he was
tried twice for renting obscene videos, and won both times. But he said
the legal fees forced him into bankruptcy.