Anonymous and Uncensored!
NewsAdmin Staff Writer

New & Improved! Super Absorbent! Maximum Strength! Everyday companies bombard us with marketing catch phrases to distinguish themselves from the competition. Unfortunately their claims are usually more hype than substance, and you quickly discover that there is nothing new, improved or super about their products.

This practice extends to the Usenet community where newsgroup service providers (NSPs) use every conceivable superlative to set themselves apart from competitors, and to promote their services to the masses. During your quest for a newsgroup provider you may have stumbled upon a few NSPs that market their Usenet services as "Anonymous & Uncensored!". These services spend a great deal of time poking at misconceptions and concerns that people may have about their newsgroup access. Rather than selecting a NSP based upon the quality of their service (retention, completion rate, server uptime, etc.) these companies seem more intent on scaring you into a membership with their service.

When you read the marketing message about "anonymous" access at these providers' websites, they'll have you believe that "non-anonymous" Usenet providers are conspiring with the FBI, CIA, PTA & AAA to monitor your every move within the newsgroups. In fact there may be a SWAT team assembling outside your front door at this moment, waiting to question you about your frequent visits to "alt.binaries.erotica.pictures.blondes".

The reality is that your newsgroup access through these services is no more or less anonymous than connections through any other NSP. Every provider requires some basic connection details to facilitate your access to their news servers, which usually includes your login settings and the connecting address through your Internet service provider. This information is usually logged for a short period of time so that when you contact an NSP for technical support... Why can't I login?, Why aren't my posts showing up?, Why are my download speeds slow?... they have enough details to research and troubleshoot the problem. If the "anonymous" NSPs do not require or log this information as they claim, they would not be able to provide technical support for their service, which is not the case.

Newsgroup providers are also required to operate their services within specific privacy guidelines, whether they promote themselves as an "anonymous" service or not. The terms of service and policy statements published at most NSP sites essentially say the same thing... they cannot share your personal information with outside parties unless required by law. In regards to the latter, a law enforcement agency must provide a subpoena before a NSP will release any information. Once again, all NSPs have to work within this framework regardless of how "anonymous" they claim to be.

In addition to "anonymity", some providers also promote that they offer "uncensored" access to the newsgroups, which in our experience means one of two things. A NSP has no spam filtering on their news servers, and as a customer you'll see a combination of spam and legitimate content within your favorite newsgroups. From a marketing standpoint these NSPs prefer to say that their content is "uncensored" rather than promote the fact that they haven't invested in spam protection for their news servers. Most of the premium providers incorporate some type of spam filtering on their service... whether they advertise it or not... and that process blocks spam postings without disrupting valid content on their news servers. By all means, if you absolutely need to see advertisements for "Discount Pharmacies", "Mail-order PhD's" or "Rolex Replicas" in your favorite newsgroups, than an "uncensored" NSP may be an option.

The "uncensored" claim can also refer to a provider's newsgroup list, more specifically a collection of child pornography groups that most NSPs will not carry on their news servers. Aside from this content being illegal in various parts of the world, from an ethical standpoint most providers do not have a interest in offering newsgroups that promote the physical & mental abuse of children. Unfortunately some "uncensored" NSPs intentionally make these groups available to their customers. At the end of the day these specific providers are promoting & profiting from this abusive content, and an argument can be made that a membership with these services only serves to perpetuate that abuse.

The Usenet community has grown considerably since its early beginnings in the 1980's, and it's used by a global audience for a variety of positive, constructive & entertaining purposes. The majority of the newsgroup providers operate their services responsibly, and their efforts ultimately allow the community to continue to grow and flourish. There will always be a bad apple in every bunch, and with that in mind we encourage everyone to select a reputable NSP when shopping around for a Usenet service.

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