On 2003/11/22 4:26 PM, "Tom Watson" wrote:

I read someone's comment the other day about how their ISP claimed
that "no one uses newsgroups anymore."

My own ISP has made the same comment to me when I've called to
complain about inadequate Newsgroup service. They seem to feel that
their customer base uses Usenet in only a marginal fashion. They act
as though they couldn't be bothered.

I think that you have to look at it from the business perspective of the
ISPs. What they are seeing is that fewer and fewer of their new customers
are using Usenet, or even know of it. Hence the ISPs get relatively few
requests for Usenet news group access. When Comcast took over the @Home
market here, they did not seem to have any plans to support Usenet until
there was a significant outcry from existing customers.

For people who have come to the use of computers in the last five years, the
Internet is the same as the Web. They have no idea of how many other
services can ride over the basic bit transport of the Internet. And as more
services, such as email, are web-ified, we lose some of the distinctive
nature of services such as email, list servers and Usenet news groups.

The other factor which may be causing ISPs to consider dropping Usenet
service is the danger of legal action for intellectual property violations.
Let's be honest here. Many of the binary newsgroups are rampant with pirated
software, music, video and images. Every time some idiot posts a copyrighted
work without permission, every carrier and server that transports that post
faces some risk of legal action. The ISPs may not be held liable, but even
the threat of having to mount a legal defense in court is daunting to risk
adverse corporations.

If you are worried about the health of Usenet, do two things - let you ISP
know how important it is to you and introduce some other people to the
wonders on news group resources.