The primary criterion for success of therapy will be the degree of histologic improvement on liver biopsy at 2, 4 and 8 years; supportive, secondary criteria will be improvements in ALT levels and in symptoms done at the same time points. This open-label pilot study will allow for therapy of patients with resistant forms of chronic hepatitis C and will address whether long-term therapy with this agent is safe, as well as whether prolonged monotherapy with ribavirin leads to sustained improvements in serum ALT levels, whether these can be maintained using lower doses of ribavirin, and whether the improvements reflect amelioration of the underlying liver disease as judged histologically.