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devout chocoholic - 26 Jan 2005 23:28 GMT

AOL Pulls Plug on Newsgroup Service
By Brian McWilliams, Guest Columnist
January 25, 2005, 9:50 AM

PERSPECTIVE The world's largest ISP is cutting off direct access to one of the
oldest, coolest -- and strangest -- parts of the Internet.

America Online has quietly announced that it will discontinue providing member
access to Usenet newsgroups next month. In recent days, AOL subscribers who
access keyword "Newsgroups" are greeted with a pop-up message informing them of
the change: "Please Note: The AOL Newsgroup service will be
discontinued in early 2005."

According to a notice on AOL's Web site, the newsgroup shut-off will occur in
February, severing subscribers from the thousands of discussion groups that
make up Usenet.

411 for newbies to E!
http://hometown.aol.com/bandannamo/myhomepage/index.html

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Stephen - 27 Jan 2005 00:11 GMT

>AOL Pulls Plug on Newsgroup Service
>By Brian McWilliams, Guest Columnist
>January 25, 2005, 9:50 AM

For text newsgroups like this one, there are many free alternatives that can be
accessed via AOL. If you want to pay a few dollars, there are also premium nntp
news providers that you can sign up with, depending on your needs. Here's a link
for free ones:
http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Usenet/Public_News_Servers/

-steve

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ZachZ - 27 Jan 2005 01:11 GMT

>>AOL Pulls Plug on Newsgroup Service
>>By Brian McWilliams, Guest Columnist
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
>-steve

I've used Newsguy.com for a few years now, and have found them to be worth the
membership fee. I currently have a $40/year account, but they have monthly
accounts as well.

Not sure if this would be of interest to anyone, but if you're a displaced AOL
newsgroup user - and purchase a newsgroup account through Newsguy - they'll add
a free month of access to your account.

Check with their website or staff for additonal details.

ZachZ

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Barrie Martindale - 15 Feb 2005 01:42 GMT

In a word, - Why?

> AOL Pulls Plug on Newsgroup Service
> By Brian McWilliams, Guest Columnist
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
> 411 for newbies to E!
> http://hometown.aol.com/bandannamo/myhomepage/index.html

Reply to this Message

Evelyn Ruut - 15 Feb 2005 12:10 GMT

> In a word, - Why?

A couple of years ago they had their own newsgroups, and it was interesting
to note that they were trying to control the conversation on them. Not to
censor for profanity or such, but they were actually trying to stop people
from discussing alternative religious issues. I don't know if the current
situation has anything to do with that, but it certainly might.

Signature

Regards,
Evelyn

(to reply to me personally, remove 'sox")

>> AOL Pulls Plug on Newsgroup Service
>> By Brian McWilliams, Guest Columnist
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
>> 411 for newbies to E!
>> http://hometown.aol.com/bandannamo/myhomepage/index.html

Reply to this Message