Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/17/84 chuqui version 1.7 9/23/84; site nsc.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!ihnp4!nsc!chuqui
From: chuqui@nsc.UUCP (Chuq Von Rospach)
Newsgroups: net.news.group
Subject: Re: Doomsday cometh (VERY LONG)
Message-ID: <3223@nsc.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 7-Sep-85 15:44:50 EDT
Article-I.D.: nsc.3223
Posted: Sat Sep  7 15:44:50 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 9-Sep-85 01:14:06 EDT
References: <781@vortex.UUCP> <3568@amdcad.UUCP>
Reply-To: chuqui@nsc.UUCP (Chuq Von Rospach)
Organization: Uncle Chuqui's Lemming Farm
Lines: 39
Summary: 

In article <3568@amdcad.UUCP> phil@amdcad.UUCP (Phil Ngai) writes:
>
>It's not clear to me it's as bad as that. With the new 2.10.3, you
>can disable automatic newsgroup creation. If something isn't in my
>active file, it gets junked. Once we get most of the important sites
>like the backbones running 2.10.3, it will be nearly impossible for
>a rogue SA to create a bogus newsgroup and have it get very far.

Except that control messages will get passed on, meaning the group will end
up getting created on every site that doesn't turn on that feature or
upgrade. Also, if you do turn on that feature, and someone sends out a
control message followed by the opening statements about the group, you
get the opening statements junked. What if your SA is on vacation for a
couple of weeks when the newgroup comes in? You simply lose all those
messages... 

>Someone could post into the wrong group but he is sure to get letter
>bombs in his mailbox if he does that enough. He probably won't get
>any positive feedback. And if things don't clear up, his site or
>his feed could be threatened with being cut off.

Except the other idiots on the net WILL give positive feedback and egg them
on. I can mention two cases, but I don't want to upset Scott Turner or
Frank Adrian... Also, there is NO enforcement mechanism for turning a site
off. The ONLY person who can do that is the immediate upstream SA, and what
if they don't agree with you? Or don't even care? Empty threats are
useless.

>So I think we haven't really lost control yet. If in fact the S/N
>ratio does keep getting worse, we could easily start an elitist
>net. Perhaps it would be moderated. But I think something could
>always be done...

We? If it is elitist, who said you'd be invited onto it???? *smirk*
-- 
Chuq Von Rospach nsc!chuqui@decwrl.ARPA {decwrl,hplabs,ihnp4}!nsc!chuqui

An uninformed opinion is no opinion at all. If you dont know what you're
talking about, please try to do it quietly.