Newsgroups: news.software.b Path: utzoo!henry From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: Why do I get junk newsgroups? Message-ID: <1991Feb21.171630.10353@zoo.toronto.edu> Organization: U of Toronto Zoology References: <20752@teda.UUCP> <1991Feb21.051023.8661@johnny5.uucp> Date: Thu, 21 Feb 1991 17:16:30 GMT In article <1991Feb21.051023.8661@johnny5.uucp> garvey@johnny5.uucp (Joe Garvey) writes: >Since almost all mail passes thru the major sites, why not have the sites >filter "junk groups". In those cases where the newsgroup header is wrong >(comp.sys.ibm.pc), the header could simply be modified, and that article >propigated correctly... Three problems: (1) The flow of news is not nearly so simple as you seem to think; articles can get a long way out into the net without ever passing through a "major site". (2) Header rewriting is a sin, because it's very difficult to be *sure* that you are doing it right. (3) Automatic maintenance of the rewrite-control file is full of security problems, and manual maintenance is sufficient hassle that few people want to do it. -- "Read the OSI protocol specifications? | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology I can't even *lift* them!" | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry