Monday, June 16, 2008

And Now, The Usenet Website Is Being Attacked By The Government?


I've never used Usenet, so I'm not familiar with how it operates, but this does not sound good:


Leftist attack on Usenet

The usual "pornography" excuse
:

"New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced on Tuesday that
Verizon Communications, Time Warner Cable, and Sprint would "shut down major
sources of online child pornography."

What Cuomo didn't say is that his agreement with broadband providers means
that they will broadly curb customers' access to Usenet--the venerable pre-Web
home of some 100,000 discussion groups, only a handful of which contain illegal
material.

Time Warner Cable said it will cease to offer customers access to any
Usenet newsgroups, a decision that will affect customers nationwide. Sprint said
it would no longer offer any of the tens of thousands of alt.* Usenet
newsgroups.

Verizon's plan is to eliminate some "fairly broad newsgroup areas."

It's not quite the death of Usenet (which has been predicted, incorrectly,
countless times). But if a politician can pressure three of the largest Internet
providers into censorial acquiescence, it may only be a matter of time before
smaller ones like Supernews, Giganews, and Usenet.com feel the squeeze.

Go read the whole thing at Astute Bloggers.

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