bye bye usenets?

expect to see more and more of this type of thing occurring, as the war on pirating continues to heat up.  there are those who will not be satisfied until they have reshaped the internet destroying the openness and freedom found there completely.

from alt.blocked: Verizon blocks access to whole USENET hierarchy:

Verizon has released details of the agreement it and other ISPs signed last week to block access to Usenet groups that have been caught trafficking child pornography. Instead of simply blocking the handful of offending groups, however, Verizon has decided to enforce a blanket ban on what could be tens of thousands of completely innocent groups.
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The banned hierarchies include alt.*, a hierarchy known to be a haven for trading many forms of copyrighted media (fonts, wares, movies, TV shows, music, porn—you name it, it’s there) and, of course, the child pornography Cuomo’s office is after. alt.* and the other groups Verizon will censor are also home to plenty of harmless discussion groups, such as alt.tv.simpsons, alt.fan, alt.religion, and more. While Ars Technica commends the crusade against child pornography, ISPs agreeing to wipe a whole Usenet hierarchy off the digital map seems too much like using a sledgehammer to strike a nail.

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