Alt.* hierarchy: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:51, 23 November 2019

Revision as of 18:20, 13 May 2020

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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 – Brian Reid, Usenet Newsgroups, Backbone Administrators<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> It would be a [[digital network|network]] without the backbones, thereby free from backbones' influences on creating or not creating a new newsgroup. The first newsgroup on alt hierarchy was his ''alt.gourmand''.

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=https://grahammitchell.com/usenet/newalt.html|title=So You Want to Create an Alt Newsgroup | accessdate=2019-07-15}}</ref>

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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>[http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9964895-38.html N.Y. attorney general forces ISPs to curb Usenet access] – Politics and Law – CNET News (June 10, 2008 12:09 PM PDT)Posted by Declan McCullagh</ref><ref>[http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKN0930574820080611 Internet companies to block child porn sites] – (Technology) Reuters – Tue June 10, 2008 8:04pm BST (Reporting by Christopher Kaufman and Yinka Adegoke; Editing by Louise Heavens and Braden Reddall)</ref><ref>[http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9967119-38.html Verizon offers details of Usenet deletion: alt.* groups, others gone] – June 12, 2008 11:37 AM PDT Posted by Declan McCullagh (The Iconoclast – politics, law, and technology) – CNET News.com</ref>

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.