| Usenet, or the Newsgroups, has been a part of the Internet since the late 1970′s. It also happens to be one of the oldest methods of sharing information and files. |
Verizon has long been known for being one of the better Newsgroup providers. In the past, it has kept an extensive collection of Binary newsgroups. Binary Newsgroups are the most coveted by file seekers looking for the latest DVD rips, X-Box/console games, mp3s and theatrical releases.
Citing bandwidth concerns, Verizon has stated that it will be removing several popular binary Newsgroups. You can read Verizon’s statement on BroadBand Reports.com.
Due to extremely large growth in the Usenet service feed, we will be
removing eight (8) high-volume Usenet News Groups from our service tonight, February 12th, at 7:00 PM EST.
The following groups will be removed from our service:
alt.binaries.boneless
alt.binaries.cd.image.playstation2.dvdiso
alt.binaries.cd.image.xbox
alt.binaries.dvd
alt.binaries.dvdr
alt.binaries.misc
alt.binaries.nl
alt.binaries.x
In addition, we are immediately placing a temporary moratorium on the
creation of any new binary News Groups on our service.
We hope this will be a temporary condition. Over the coming weeks, we will be actively analyzing usage and feed data to determine an appropriate time to reinstate these groups.
We apologize for this inconvenience.
Best regards,
Rick – Verizon News Administrator
Dear Verizon Online Customer
As a Verizon Newsgroup service user we wanted to let you know about some important changes that we will soon be making to our Newsgroup service.
On June 24 2008 we will be modifying our Newsgroup offerings to only offer groups in the Big-8 Newsgroup hierarchies which are listed below. The 0.verizon.* newsgroup hierarchy will also continue to be available. Users will not be able to post or download from any other newsgroups using our Newsgroup service.
comp.*
humanities.*
misc.*
news.*
rec.*
sci.*
soc.*
talk.*
More details regarding the Big 8 newsgroup hierarchies is available at: http://www.big-8.org/.
This change will not affect your Internet access service. If you would like to subscribe to newsgroups other than those we offer you will need to subscribe to a separate commercial news service. Please note that your use of any such service is still subject to our Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy.
There are no changes required to your software but you will need to unsubscribe from all Newsgroups other than the Big 8 hierarchies and the 0.verizon.* hierarchy noted above. The following link explains how to subscribe and unsubscribe in Outlook Express:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/171190
IMPORTANT: If you continue to subscribe to unsupported newsgroups you may experience poor computer performance and slow throughput speeds. Failure to unsubscribe may also interfere with the functioning of the Verizon network or use of the network by other Verizon users which is a violation of our Acceptable Use Policy.
We appreciate your business and look forward to continuing to serve you in the future.
Sincerely
Verizon Online