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Hierarchies and Newsgroups

The Usenet2 Hierarchy

Some admins, unhappy with the way the BIG-8 system developed, decided to start a project they called Usenet2. All Usenet2 groups are within a single hierarchy: net.*

The idea behind Usenet2 is to avoid incorrectly named groups, to avoid any form of net-abuse and to control the chaos of Usenet. Other than BIG-8, there's not a single moderator, there's a consortium, that is responsible for all decisions regarding Usenet2. To avoid net-abuse, services which aren't considered "sound" (that's how they call rogue services), will be depeered.

To depeer a Usenet server means to stop exchanging articles with that server. If all ISPs do that at once, the articles posted to this Usenet server will go nowhere anymore, IOW the Usenet server is kicked out of Usenet. So whenever a administrator doesn't play according to the rules of this consortium, he will get kicked by them. This doesn't always work in practice, there are too many "backdoors" for admins to still get their articles into Usenet, but nevertheless, getting depeered is something every admin should be afraid of.

The problem of Usenet2 is: censorship! If what you write is considered abusive, your administrator is told to stop you. If he refuses to do that, his server isn't "sound" anymore and he will get punished. IOW he has no chance and is forced to listen to this consortium and that means your freedom of speech has gone to crap.

While many people may appreciate Usenet2, I personally think its chances on success are smaller than the one of the free groups. As history shows, a big-brother principle has never worked. Too much freedom is dangerous, too much control is even worse.

The motto of Usenet2: "Big Brother is watching you!"

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