here we come

Heh. Just get another NNTP provider, there are plenty of free ones out there. I foresee a spike in Googletards, for some may not have the initiative to seek alternative providers.

I think it'd be more fun to move out kicks and giggles to cha. ;)

It's possible that some of these providers have simply decided to stop providing a conduit for those who exploit children. They're not all without moral convictions. However, I suppose that some are doing it for precisely the reasons you've surmised. Whatever the reasoning, the Internet is self-healing to a certain extent. If most of the major providers decide to drop the ALT newsgroups, Web-based forums may take their place. If not that, then some other format is sure to spring up.

Then dump your provider and use a 3rd party usenet service.

This just in from Verizon.....

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.*

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.

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,

Veriz>if the alt newsgroups are dropped by providers as predicted all the ASA

Historically, ALT newsgroups have been a costly BW waste for the ISPs that support them. They are also home to much of the illegal image trade, pirated software, etc. The problem with dropping them is users will simply take their posts, attitudes and whatever over to the remaining groups. As I mentioned before, the Internet tends to be self-healing.