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{{lowercase|alt.* hierarchy}}
The '''''alt.*'' hierarchy''' is a major class of [[newsgroup]]s in [[Usenet]], containing all newsgroups whose name begins with "''alt.''", organized hierarchically. The ''alt.*'' hierarchy is not confined to newsgroups of any specific subject or type, although in practice more formally organized groups tend not to occur in alt. The alt.* hierarchy was created by [[John Gilmore (activist)|John Gilmore]] and [[Brian Reid (computer scientist)|Brian Reid]].
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The birth of the ''alt.*'' hierarchy is tied to a drastic transformation of the Usenet, the [[Great Renaming]] of 1987. The "backbone carriers", or the [[backbone cabal]] as they have been referred to by some users of the [[Usenet]], were vital hubs in the distribution chain of most of the newsgroup postings. Their effort to change the way newsgroups are organized led to objections from some vocal Usenet users.
In particular, the creation of the ''talk.*'' hierarchy for discussions of controversial or sensitive issues by the renaming did not go well. The ''alt.*'' hierarchy was suggested as an alternative to ''talk.*'' by Brian Reid.<ref>[http://www.livinginternet.com/u/ui_alt.htm Alt Hierarchy History
The prefix "alt" refers to the fact that it is a "hierarchy that is 'alternative' to the 'mainstream' (comp, misc, news, rec, soc, sci and talk) hierarchies". The "So You Want to Create an Alt Newsgroup" FAQ repeats a common joke that the name "alt" is an acronym for "Anarchists, Lunatics, and Terrorists".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.faqs.org/faqs/alt-creation-guide/|title=So You Want to Create an Alt Newsgroup | accessdate=2007-05-27|date=
Alt has since become home for a wide variety of things that did not fit elsewhere. In particular, there are many ''alt.fan'' newsgroups, mostly devoted to discussions of the work and life of famous people:
Two major sections of the ''alt.*'' hierarchy, the ''alt.sex.*'' and ''alt.binaries.*'' hierarchies, have been found to fit better in the ''alt.*'' hierarchy than the [[Big 8 (Usenet)|Big
Several extensions of the ''alt.*'' hierarchy have become quite successful on their own. A number of newsgroups have taken advantage of the freedom of the ''alt.*'' hierarchy to create a number of newsgroups that specialize on certain topics, as opposed to the broader "generic" discussions of the Big Seven hierarchy. For instance, the ''rec.*'' hierarchy may be home to the
The [[language]] of preference in the "original" Usenet hierarchies, including ''alt.*'', is
==Censorship==
In June 2008, it was announced that [[Sprint Nextel|Sprint]] and [[Verizon]] would be cutting off access to the alt.* hierarchy to their subscribers, citing [[child pornography]] as the number one 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>[http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9964895-38.html N.Y. attorney general forces ISPs to curb Usenet access]
Verizon has not blocked alt.* from users, they have simply stopped maintaining the alt.* hierarchy on their own servers. Verizon subscribers can still access the alt.* hierarchy through a third-party Usenet service.
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