I suggest you read the Cryptonote interview which details BCN.
The interview sounds like a load of shit.
"Bytecoin was not the very first realization of CryptoNote, as there was a so-called BetaNote, which was used for a couple of months before the launch of Bytecoin to test whether the currency works as designed. This test coin was presented to a large number of influential people in educational, scientific, and gaming industries, who eventually became the first miners of Bytecoin. I believe this circle of a few affected the way the currency developed during the next year and why the information was slow to spread. It is not in the nature or business of these participants to post on the Web, so all the mining teams grew in number through word-of-mouth only."
Is it a large number or is it a circle of a few? They need to make up their mind. The problem you have is that circle of a few makes it a clear premine and a large number makes it not credible that no one with a respected reputation can come forward and vouch for having heard of it.
I can't speak for "gaming" but claiming that it isn't in the nature of people in the "educational" and "scientific" industries to post on the web is laughable. Those industries created the web and people in those industries have been prolific posters on the web since day one. And besides posting on the web, how about talking to other well known people who could vouch for it? People in scientific and educational industries are in the business of sharing information. They are not (all) hermits who never talk to each other. Again, all that is needed is for some well-respected academic or scientist to come forward and vouch for having heard about it in 2011. Where are they?
The more of this nonsense gets dredged up the shadier this whole thing looks.