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Verizon to effectively drop Usenet

KilarneyKilarney
edited June 2008 in Technology
Verizon has voluntarily agreed to block access to most usenet newsgroups. (Article here.)

Does anyone care? I haven't used usenet in years. Is it still used by anyone other than perverts or pirates?

Comments

  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    Does anyone use it for anything other than alt.binaries.weirdsexstuff ?

    Can't you get around this by not using Verizon's DNS and/or proxies?
  • AprecheApreche
    We were going to talk about this last night. We'll do an entire Monday on Usenet, I think.
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    I use usenet every day. Not for anything dodgey though.
  • RymRym
    I haven't found a useful, non-illegal use for Usenet since 1994...
  • ladyobsoleteladyobsolete
    This shows the danger of holding ISPs accountable for content online. What incentive do ISPs have to preserve free speech online if they are being fined for content posted by other people? Verizon's final solution speaks to a more dangerous trend in censoring the internet through blanket banning rather than spending the greater cost to monitor and selectively remove content (even that rubs me the wrong way, but...yeah).

    Fundamentally, I believe in media literacy rather than censorship.
  • RymRym
    The core issue here isn't the content, but the technological realities of NNTP. I wouldn't fault any provider for ditching anything to do with it.
  • lackofcheeselackofcheese
    edited June 2008
    I don't see much information on "the technological realities of NNTP", so please expound.

    However, if this really is the "core issue", why the hell isn't Verizon saying so?
    Post edited by lackofcheese on
  • ladyobsoleteladyobsolete
    edited June 2008
    Yes, please explain.

    From what I've read, this seems to be more a matter of economic realities rather than technical realities.

    EDIT: ...a matter of economic and political realities. It is the legal realities of lawsuits that make this an economic issue.
    Post edited by ladyobsolete on
  • KilarneyKilarney
    My belief is that Verizon has wanted to dump usenet service for quite some time, and this gave them a handy excuse.
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    So how long before they set their sights on bittorent as the child porn transfer medium of choice?
  • RymRym
    Yes, please explain.
    Here you go, kids.
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