BAD NEWS FOR EVERYONE

I just got this little Email back, in response to a post I made on
news.admin.net-abuse.usenet..  After electron-confering with several other
regular posters on this group, it was suggested that getting some advice
about widespread problems with posts be sought for.  The answer is not too
pleasant......



[ A copy of this message has been posted to the newsgroups ]
[     news.admin.net-abuse.usenet                          ]
[     alt.ascii-art                                        ]

Jonathon R. Oglesbee <ogl...@fullnet.net--removetoreply> wrote:

> I read and post on alt.ascii-art frequently, and there seems to be some
> kind of general problem with that newsgroup.  Several users in
> geographically distant areas from each other are complaining about not
> receiving postings, receiving only Re's to posting but not the original
> posts, and other such annoyances on a fairly large scale, and for a
couple
> of weeks now.

Right.  The Problem is not specific to alt.ascii-art.  This is happening
in All Newsgroups at Many, Many Sites.

>    Not long ago, our news group was beset with a large number of junk (or
> spam) posts.  These began to be cancelled, but a few of us are now
> concerned that legitimate posts are also being cancelled, and that this
may
> explain some of our problems.

Your Articles are not being cancelled.  They simply are not making it
through, because Usenet as a Whole is Seriously, some say Terminally,
Ill.

Right now, all but a Small Fraction of News Traffic is Spam and Spam
Cancels.  Worse, the Volume of Spam is constantly increasing.  Many
Servers are no longer able to keep up with the Junk, and they are losing
Articles All Over.  A Server that loses Articles cannot relay them to
Other Sites, so that Propagation is slowed at Best, destroyed at worst.
This is even evident in the Big-8 Newsgroups, which generally enjoy much
better Propagation than alt.*

The Solution is simple, but not enough Providers care to do anything.
They need to stop allowing Spammers to use their Services, and to stop
exchanging News with Sites that allow Spammers to post.

Mw.,
F.