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SBC/Pacbell To Filter 90% Of alt.binaries Groups

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the no-more-exotic-butterfly-pictures dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes: "I received an email from PacBell.net (Pacific Bell's ISP), stating that they're transitioning their usenet services to Prodigy. They're making a few changes along the way." He excerpts from the email: "In addition, after evaluating possible copyright infringement issues, newsgroup usage and the cost of providing newsgroup access, we will no longer offer some alt.binary newsgroups. For a list of alt.binaries that will no longer be offered, please refer to our FAQ at http://global.pacbell.net/usenet_update.html.' Note that the link currently doesn't go to the right place. After telephoning SBC, I was informed that upwards of 90% of the alt.binaries.* groups are going to be blocked."

6 of 253 comments (clear)

  1. Install a Usenet Proxy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic



    Hell, this is inconvient, but getting around it is very easy. You just need to install a NNTP proxy and you can get all the alt.bin groups you want. I use it to get a bunch of bin groups @home doesn't carry.

  2. Stephen King, author, dead at 54 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic


    I just heard some sad news on talk radio - Horror/Sci Fi writer Stephen King was found dead in his Maine home this morning. There weren't any more details. I'm sure everyone in the Slashdot community will miss him - even if you didn't enjoy his work, there's no denying his contributions to popular culture. Turly an American icon.

  3. Re:Gosh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    That is because you are a hopeless newbie who never experienced the Internet before the web was invented. Sad really.

  4. Re:Gosh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic


    Hell yeah. I live by usenet. I hate forums ... sure, I use them because you pretty much have to. But by using news I have thousands of forums, one interface, one username & pass.

    I used the binary groups to get mp3 before p2p really took off. I use the support groups for various OSes all the time. The gaming news groups are great - whenever a new game comes out, *someone* is sure to be stuck at the same place you are. They're a good place to get popular opinion; I've avoided some real stinkers.

    The movie review groups are great. The Playboy bin groups are very active. The Suvivior group has some great conspiracies going when it's in season.

    Granted, I've watched the level of traffic decreas since the early 90s. Especially since the GUI Generation has taken over. But it's still the fastest and best place to get, well, news. And bins of your mom.

  5. alt by ColdGold · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    anarchists lunatics terrorists

  6. Holy crap! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    I didn't even realize Prodigy was still around!

    The Source is still dead, right?