<s>
alt.sex	O
is	O
a	O
Usenet	B-Application
newsgroup	I-Application
–	O
a	O
discussion	O
group	O
within	O
the	O
Usenet	B-Application
network	O
–	O
relating	O
to	O
human	O
sexual	O
activity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
October	O
1993	O
survey	O
by	O
Brian	O
Reid	O
reported	O
an	O
estimated	O
worldwide	O
readership	O
for	O
the	O
newsgroup	B-Application
of	O
3.3	O
million	O
,	O
that	O
being	O
8%	O
of	O
the	O
total	O
Usenet	B-Application
readership	O
,	O
with	O
67%	O
of	O
all	O
Usenet	B-Application
"	O
nodes	O
"	O
(	O
news	O
servers	O
users	O
log	O
in	O
to	O
access	O
the	O
system	O
)	O
carrying	O
the	O
group	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
newsgroup	B-Application
hierarchy	O
below	O
comprises	O
several	O
newsgroups	B-Application
,	O
including	O
(	O
which	O
is	O
the	O
biggest	O
newsgroup	B-Application
in	O
the	O
hierarchy	O
after	O
itself	O
)	O
,	O
,	O
,	O
,	O
,	O
and	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
former	O
four	O
newsgroups	B-Application
generally	O
feature	O
text	O
and	O
images	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
type	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
found	O
in	O
mainstream	O
adult	O
magazines	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Playboy	O
or	O
Penthouse	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
latter	O
three	O
newsgroups	B-Application
exemplify	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
sub-groups	O
that	O
deals	O
in	O
more	O
"	O
extreme	O
"	O
or	O
less	O
socially	O
accepted	O
topics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
more	O
newsgroups	B-Application
on	O
the	O
less	O
mainstream	O
topics	O
or	O
sub-cultures	O
,	O
although	O
as	O
of	O
1998	O
they	O
were	O
generally	O
far	O
lower	O
in	O
traffic	O
than	O
those	O
that	O
deal	O
in	O
the	O
more	O
mainstream	O
sexual	O
behaviours	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
usenet	B-Application
BDSM	O
newsgroup	B-Application
,	O
alt.sex.bondage	O
,	O
was	O
created	O
in	O
1991	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
University	O
of	O
Waterloo	O
in	O
1994	O
ceased	O
carrying	O
,	O
,	O
,	O
and	O
upon	O
the	O
recommendation	O
of	O
its	O
ethics	O
committee	O
,	O
which	O
had	O
expressed	O
concerns	O
that	O
the	O
content	O
of	O
those	O
newsgroups	B-Application
may	O
have	O
violated	O
the	O
Canadian	O
Criminal	O
Code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
is	O
a	O
Usenet	B-Application
newsgroup	I-Application
set	O
up	O
specifically	O
to	O
help	O
combat	O
newsgroup	B-Application
spam	I-Application
cross-posted	B-Application
to	O
the	O
entire	O
alt.sex	O
hierarchy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
newsgroup	B-Application
is	O
a	O
simple	O
"	O
spamtrap	O
"	O
–	O
a	O
trap	O
used	O
to	O
collect	O
samples	O
of	O
unsolicited	O
messages	O
that	O
can	O
then	O
be	O
acted	O
on	O
by	O
an	O
automated	O
anti-spam	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
well-known	O
mass-mailing	O
macro	B-Application
computer	I-Application
virus	I-Application
called	O
the	O
"	O
Melissa	O
virus	O
"	O
was	O
originally	O
distributed	O
via	O
the	O
newsgroup	B-Application
.	O
</s>
