The likelihood of either the CAFC granting en banc consideration or the Supreme Court granting a writ of certiorari is considered by legal experts to be small.
Back then, receiving email (or having any contact whatsoever with someone else without having to resort to telephone or face-to-face contact) was excitement writ large.
The two situations in which the Supreme Court is most likely to accept the type of discretionary appeal known as a writ of certiorari are when the circuits below "split, " or when a circuit has issued a bad ruling that will have serious implications for federal law.