From: rich@example.invalid   
      
   D  wrote:   
   > On Thu, 7 Nov 2024, Rich wrote:   
   >>   
   >> Which also meant if you posted something that someone took great   
   >> offense to, from your @mit.edu account, that the "offended" would   
   >> contact the mit.edu sysadmins, and the "offending" user would be   
   >> "taken behind the woodshed" as it may be.   
   >>   
   >> Granted, "offended" individuals still can contact whatever usenet   
   >> host someone uses to access usenet and bitch up a storm (the   
   >> necessary headers are in every article).  But that same host, being   
   >> in the 'business' of usenet access, is much less likely to care   
   >> about "From: Q@nowhere"'s offensive post than the @mit.edu folks   
   >> would have been back in the day.   
   >>   
   >> And, of course, joe random stalker has a much harder time tracking   
   >> down "Q@nowhere"'s real life identity and location than he does in   
   >> tracking down the same for john.smith.iii@mit.edu.   
   >   
   > Makes a lot of sense.  I also think that a lot of (well some) amateur   
   > usenet providers have a strong sense of freedom of speech, so it   
   > would take a lot for them to even bother.   
      
   Yes, and a lot of that goes with "usenet" being their primary   
   provision.   
      
   @mit.edu provided Usenet as but a small extra benefit by being a   
   mit.edu student/alum/employee.  Making mit.edu look bad meant they   
   could cut you off usenet, and not even notice the change for the rest   
   of mit.edu.   
      
   But a "usenet" provider, the only thing they provide is "usenet", and   
   esp. if it is a paid provider, it is against their business interest to   
   cut off user X (meaning less revenue) just because random fool on   
   usenet was triggered.   
      
   Most of them have very simple rules: no SPAMming, no SWATting, and then   
   that's about it.  So unless the offense is directly against their   
   simple rules, or just clearly well beyond anything anyone should   
   expect, most of the "usenet only" providers will simply tell the   
   'sensitive' to go pound sand (and, preferably, to "grow a thicker   
   skin").   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)