This week I got an email from Verizon explaining that they are vastly limiting access to newsgroups.
On June 24, 2008, we will be modifying our Newsgroup offerings to only offer groups in the Big-8 Newsgroup hierarchies, which are listed below. The 0.verizon.* newsgroup hierarchy will also continue to be available. Users will not be able to post or download from any other newsgroups using our Newsgroup service.
comp.*
humanities.*
misc.*
news.*
rec.*
sci.*
soc.*
talk.*
.....
IMPORTANT: If you continue to subscribe to unsupported newsgroups, you may experience poor computer performance and slow throughput speeds. Failure to unsubscribe may also interfere with the functioning of the Verizon network or use of the network by other Verizon users, which is a violation of our Acceptable Use Policy.
We appreciate your business and look forward to continuing to serve you in the future.
Sincerely,
Verizon Online
In the name of combatting child pornography, and with the full backing of New York's Attorney General, Verizon has narrowed its subscribers' choices severely. They have basically tried to kill microbes with a mallet.
If you've ever wondered what NY AG Andrew Cuomo's office was doing while Elliot Spitzer was away in DC, it appears they spent considerable time in sexually explicit alt.binaries newsgroups.
The Attorney General’s investigation reviewed millions of pictures over several months, uncovering 88 different Newsgroups that contained a total of 11,390 sexually lewd photos featuring prepubescent children, and in some cases photos of children being raped and sexual activity involving animals. Verizon, Time Warner Cable, and Sprint provided their subscribers with access to many of these Newsgroups.
The press release further explains that they have an ability to trace "hash values" so they did not necessarily have to peruse every pic. It appears Time/Warner and Sprint customers also will be limited to the big-8 hierarchies, out of over a thousand
Here's C-net's Declan McCullagh
Usenet is a pre-Web technology that, for most of its history, relied on companies, Internet service providers, and universities to operate servers that would exchange messages posted by their users. Each server operator can choose what newsgroups they wish to offer. Today, some companies like Supernews, Giganews, and Usenet.com offer newsgroup access for a fee. (Unlike, say, mailing lists, Usenet has no central repository.)
What this means in practice is that, thanks to the New York state attorney general, Verizon customers will lose out on innocent discussions
I was surprised to find in a search that no one here had posted on this development. Perhaps it is the charge of child pornography that is quieting public dissent, or maybe it has been a too full week of revelations to digest this story. But it's got just the right mix of politics/internet/corporations that I thought this story might be of interest.
Before I discovered the blogosphere, I used to frequent alt.politics newsgroup and remember some very satisfying exchanges with right wing nuts. There was no troll rating system so you had only your wits to do battle. I also remember some cathartic posting after the travesties of 12/12/00 and 9/11/01. I also visited baseball newsgroups, mostly as a lurker, and was fascinated by the difference in culture and pace from the A's to the Red Sox newsgroups. The vast majority of alt newsgroups are collections of people with likeminded interests who inform and share for free. Maybe that's the problem; the Verizon spokesmodels did emphasize that people could still get their newsgroup access through a paid service.
Further discussionhere
here andhere