On 2013-03-07, Danny D. wrote:
On Thu, 07 Mar 2013 11:31:09 -0800, Dave Platt wrote:

I don't know whether aioe blocked posting to this newsgroup from *all*
of the Internet, or only from certain IP address ranges which were
commonly used (or misused) by abusive posters.

Thank you for that explanation.

I just now sent a message to Paolo Amoroso at Aioe, asking if he
can explain things - but if it's as you said, then there's not
much I'm going to do (other than switch newsservers).

I do understand that free means he can't spend a lot of time on
things. I just wish I know what was going on, that's all.

Thanks!

AIOE is meant as a 'last resort' NSP, allowing anyone who can get an
internet connection (and suitable software) to post to usenet - without
having to register in advance, or at all, or make any payment, or any form
of 'identification'. This might be a valuable service for someone living
under an oppressive regime, for example. Sadly, people abuse it, and the
provider has to try to minimise the abuse that gets posted (so as to
protect his news-server from a usenet death penalty, which would render it
useless) without silencing any of the very people the service is trying to
help.

If you have no reason to fear being traceable through account registration
records, then you have no /need/ to use AIOE at all; there are other
free-of-charge NSPs with whom you could register. If you abuse their
services, they can cancel your account - which AIOE can't do, as there are
no accounts.

If you can afford it, help to keep usenet going by paying for your use of
it. Text-only access needn't be expensive, or of course you can send
whatever you can afford to one or more of the free servers.



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-- Whiskers
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