Alt.* hierarchy: Difference between revisions

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==Censorship==
In June 2008, it was announced that [[Sprint Corporation|Sprint]] and [[Verizon Communications|Verizon]] would be cutting off access to the ''alt.*'' hierarchy to their subscribers, citing [[child pornography]] as the only reason. [[New York State]] [[Attorney General]] [[Andrew Cuomo]] claimed his office found child porn in 88 of the 100,000 groups that exist on ''alt.*''.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9964895-38.html |title=N.Y. attorney general forces ISPs to curb Usenet access |work=[[CNET News]] |date=June 10, 2008 |author=Declan McCullagh |author-link=Declan McCullagh }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKN0930574820080611 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226205017/http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKN0930574820080611 |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 26, 2009 |title=Internet companies to block child porn sites |publisher=[[Reuters]] |date=June 10, 2008 |author1=Christopher Kaufman |author2=Yinka Adegoke }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9967119-38.html |title=Verizon offers details of Usenet deletion: alt.* groups, others gone |work=[[CNET News]] |date=June 12, 2008 |author=Declan McCullagh |author-link=Declan McCullagh }}</ref>
Verizon has not blocked ''alt.*'' from users, but has simply stopped maintaining the ''alt.*'' hierarchy on their own servers. Verizon subscribers can still access the ''alt.*'' hierarchy through a third-party Usenet service.
 
In the same time frame, [[AT&T]]'s United States–based consumer dial internet service provider decommissioned their [[NNTP]] servers entirely, citing a combination of the above concerns and a putative decline in traffic volume which had accelerated beyond a statistical point of no return.
 
==See also==