Usenet

“ The Usenet list of news groups and mailing lists is available on hosts that run Usenet News or NetNews servers and/or clients in the newsgroups news.announce.newusers and news.lists. The members of news.newusers.questions, alt.internet.help, alt.internet.access.wanted, and alt.internet.new-users readily accept your help requests. Alt.internet.services focuses on information about services available on the Internet. It is for people with Internet accounts who want to explore beyond their local computers, to take advantage of the wealth of information and services on the net. ”

“ By the year the Internet hit the mainstream (1994) the original UUCP transport for Usenet was fading out of use (see {UUCPNET}) — almost all Usenet connections were over Internet links. A lot of newbies and journalists began to refer to "Internet newsgroups" as though Usenet was and always had been just another Internet service. This ignorance greatly annoys experienced Usenetters.
:user: /n./ 1. Someone doing `real work' with the computer, using it as a means rather than an end. Someone who pays to use a computer. See {real user}. 2. A programmer who will believe anything you tell him. ”

“ As more companies realize the potential profits to be made in the new information infrastructure, what happens to such systems as Usenet, possibly the world's first successful anarchistic system, where everybody can say whatever they want? ”

“ And the Internet is only one of the various networks carrying Usenet traffic.
Usenet is not a Unix network, nor even an ASCII network.
Don't assume that everyone is using "rn" on a Unix machine. There are Vaxen running VMS, IBM mainframes, Amigas, and MS-DOS PCs reading and posting to Usenet. And, yes, some of them use (shudder) EBCDIC. Ignore them if you like, but they're out there.
Usenet is not software. There are dozens of software packages used at various sites to transport and read Usenet articles. So no one program or package can be called "the Usenet software." ”

“ There, hidden among the many diversions of alt., talk., and soc. hierarchies, is the latest information on the computing environment of modern Internetworking. In the opinion of this author, learning to use a newsreader and reading the network news regularly is the *single most important Internetworking skill*. The Usenet newsgroups are Dewey Decimal System of the the true world library. Information can be found in plenty elsewhere, but guides to information are rare and priceless— and the Usenet news is the guide to the Internet. ”

“ Using unique IDs helps prevent a system from receiving five copies of an article from each of its five news neighbors, for example.
Further information on how Usenet works with relation to the various transports is available in the documentation for the Cnews and NNTP packages, as well as in RFC-1036, the Standard for Interchange of USENET Messages and RFC-977, Network News Transfer Protocol: A Proposed Standard for the Stream-Based Transmission of News. The RFCs do tend to be rather dry reading, particularly to the new user. ”

“ If you just can't wait, find a Usenet old hand to run the vote for you.
Readers may think this advice unnecessarily strict. Ignore it at your peril. It is embarrassing to speak before learning. It is foolish to jump into a society you don't understand with your mouth open. And it is futile to try to force your will on people who can tune you out with the press of a key.
If You're Unhappy... Property rights being what they are, there is no higher authority on Usenet than the people who own the machines on which Usenet traffic is carried. ”

“ Freedom of speech also means freedom not to speak; if I choose not to use my computer to aid your speech, that is my right. Freedom of the press belongs to those who own one.
Usenet is not a public utility. Some Usenet sites are publicly funded or subsidized. Most of them, by plain count, are not. There is no government monopoly on Usenet, and little or no control.
Usenet is not a commercial network. Many Usenet sites are academic or government organizations; in fact, Usenet originated in academia. Therefore, there is a Usenet custom of keeping commercial traffic to a minimum. ”

“ In order to ease transmission and for the convenience of Usenet users, usenet servers maintain postings from newsgroups for a short period of time — eleven days for Netcom's system and three days for Klemesrud's system. Once on Netcom's computers, messages are available to Netcom's customers and Usenet neighbors, who may then download the messages to their own computers. Netcom's local server makes available its postings to a group of Usenet servers, which do the same for other servers until all Usenet sites worldwide have obtained access to the postings, which takes a matter of hours. ”

“ Software Tool & Die offers The World, a public access Unix system: The basic rates are $2 per hour and a $5 monthly account fee. Services offered by The World include internet electronic mail, USENET news, ClariNet -UPI, AP, and satellite news services, real-time chat, Unix Software, Archie, the Online Book Initiative (a publicly accessible repository for freely redistributable collections of textual information, a net-worker's library.) AlterNet Access - Users have access to AlterNet via ftp/telnet. The World can also be accessed over the Compuserve Packet Network. ”

“ However, plaintiffs' theory further implicates a Usenet server that carries Erlich's message to other servers regardless of whether that server acts without any human intervention beyond the initial setting up of the system. It would also result in liability for every single Usenet server in the worldwide link of computers transmitting Erlich's message to every other computer. These parties, who are liable under plaintiffs' theory, do no more than operate or implement a system that is essential if Usenet messages are to be widely distributed. ”

“ And then whenever a company was mentioned in a major Usenet newsgroup, an electronic clipping service would send the information back to them at no charge. A careless engineer or marketer could jeopardize thousands or millions in investments. ”

“ Each Usenet site distributes its users' postings to other Usenet sites based on various implicit and explicit configuration settings, and in turn receives postings from other sites. Usenet traffic typically consists of as much as 30 to 50 Mbytes of messages per day. ”

“ Usenet, ftp and telnet have tremendous educational potential, from keeping up with world events to arranging international science experiments. Because the Net now reaches so many countries and often stays online even when the phones go down, you and your students can "tune in" to first-hand accounts during international conflicts. Look at your system's list of Usenet soc.culture groups to see if there is one about the country or region you're interested in. ”

“ A world-wide "party line" network that allows one to converse with others in real time. IRC is structured as a network of Internet servers, each of which accepts connections from client programs, one per user. The IRC community and the {USENET} and {MUD} communities overlap to some extent, including both hackers and regular folks who have discovered the wonders of computer networks. Some USENET jargon has been adopted on IRC, as have some conventions such as {emoticon}s. There is also a vigorous native jargon, represented in this lexicon by entries marked ` [IRC] '. See also {talk mode}. ”

“ Others are filtered by humans or programs of varying degrees of sophistication; lists filtered by humans are said to be `moderated'. 2. The people who receive your email when you send it to such an address.
Mailing lists are one of the primary forms of hacker interaction, along with Usenet. They predate Usenet, having originated with the first UUCP and ARPANET connections. They are often used for private information-sharing on topics that would be too specialized for or inappropriate to public Usenet groups. ”

“ Here, Netcom copied no more of plaintiffs' works than necessary to function as a Usenet server. Like the defendant in Sega v. Accolade, Netcom had no practical alternative way to carry out its socially useful purpose; a Usenet server must copy all files, since the prescreening of postings for potential copyright infringement is not feasible. ”

“ They provide multi-user chat, email, Usenet news, and a variety of other things to keep you occupied for hours on end.
Directories
There are a few systems that are maintained to provide the Internet community with access to lists of information—-users, organizations, etc. They range from fully dedicated computers with access to papers and research results, to a system to find out about the faculty members of a university. ”

“ Many people, particularly new users, want to try out posting before actually taking part in discussions. Often the mechanics of getting messages out is the most difficult part of Usenet. To this end, many, many users find it necessary to post their tests to "normal" groups (for example, news.admin or comp.mail.misc) . This is considered a major netiquette faux pas in the Usenet world. There are a number of groups available, called test groups, that exist solely for the purpose of trying out a news system, reader, or even new signature. ”

“ For information on new or interesting ftp sites, try the comp.archives newsgroup on Usenet. You can also look in the comp.misc, comp.sources.wanted or news.answers newsgroups on Usenet for lists of ftp sites posted every month by Tom Czarnik and Jon Granrose. The comp.archives newsgroup carries news of new ftp sites and interesting new files on existing sites. In the comp.virus newsgroup on Usenet, look for postings that list ftp sites carrying anti-viral software for Amiga, MS-DOS, Macintosh, Atari and other computers. ”

“ And if you are using a public-access UUCP or Usenet site, you will not have access to telnet. The main reason for this is cost. Connecting to the Internet can easily cost $1,000 or more for a leased, high-speed phone line. Some databases and file libraries can be queried by e-mail, however; we'll show you how to do that later on. In the meantime, the rest of this chapter assumes you are connected to a site with at least partial Internet access. Most telnet sites are fairly easy to use and have online help systems. Most also work best (and in some cases, only) with VT100 emulation. ”

“ If such commercial traffic is generally considered worth carrying, then it may be grudgingly tolerated. Even so, it is usually separated somehow from non-commercial traffic; see comp.newprod.
Usenet is not the Internet. The Internet is a wide-ranging network, parts of which are subsidized by various governments. The Internet carries many kinds of traffic; Usenet is only one of them. ”

“ To the extent that Netcom and Klemesrud argue that plaintiffs' copyrights are invalid and that Netcom and Klemesrud are not liable because Erlich had a valid fair use defense, the court previously rejected these arguments and will not reconsider them here. [4] The Usenet has been described as a worldwide community of electronic BBSs that is closely associated with the Internet and with the Internet community. The messages in Usenet are organized into thousands of topical groups, or "Newsgroups". ”

“ Usenet is read and contributed to on a daily basis by a total population of millions of people. . . . There is no specific network that is the Usenet. Usenet traffic flows over a wide range of networks, including the Internet and dial-up phone links. Dern, supra, at 196-97. [5] The First Amended Complaint ("FAC") contains three claims: (1) copyright infringement of BPI's published literary works against all defendants; (2) copyright infringement of RTC's unpublished confidential works against all defendants; and (3) misappropriation of RTC's trade secrets against defendant Erlich only. ”

“ You are not expected to live in the United States or in Norway. Emphasis is on major international offerings available through services and networks like the Internet, BITNET, CompuServe, Echo, FidoNet, Usenet, Dialcom, Dow Jones/News Retrieval, MCI, NewsNet and UUCP. These services can be accessed from almost anywhere. Talking about the Internet, we do not expect that it will be easy for you to get full access. We assume that most people can get access to this network by electronic mail only. ”

“ You are offered online courses, workshops, and seminars for students of all ages, databases to help you select a school for yourself or your kids, and all kinds of discussion forums for educators. Usenet, BITNET, Internet, and UUCP have long traditions in education. You'll find offerings for teachers within all subject areas, from finance and accounting, through history, languages and geography to technical subjects on all levels. Two guides listing forums of interest to Educators can be retrieved by anonymous FTP from the pub/ednet directory at nic.umass.edu . ”

“ An electronic-mail or Usenet persona adopted by a human for amusement value or as a means of avoiding negative repercussions of one's net.behavior; a `nom de Usenet', often associated with forged postings designed to conceal message origins. Perhaps the best-known and funniest hoax of this type is B1FF. See also tentacle. 2. Notionally, a flamage-generating AI program simulating a Usenet user. Many flamers have been accused of actually being such entities, despite the fact that no AI program of the required sophistication yet exists. ”