PC Magazine and Slashdot report on the recent crackdown by some ISPs on Usenet:
…major providers are dropping the full alt. hierarchy, and even Usenet entirely, as part of a New York State government crusade against child pornographers who’ve been using the alt.binaries groups to distribute their wares.
I support their aim, but as one article put it, “Dropping all of Usenet to lose alt.binaries.videos.of.criminal.acts is definitely throwing the baby out with the bathwater.” I personally subscribe to Giganews directly for Usenet access rather than relying on access through Comcast, but others may unfortunately not be so lucky. I don’t know if this really is the end of Usenet, but it certainly seems like a sad development…
