<s>
alt.sex.stories	B-Application
is	O
a	O
Usenet	B-Application
newsgroup	I-Application
for	O
erotic	O
stories	O
created	O
on	O
May	O
7	O
,	O
1992	O
,	O
by	O
Tim	O
Pierce	O
as	O
an	O
alternative	O
to	O
pre-existing	O
alt	B-Architecture
erotica	O
newsgroups	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
group	O
was	O
initially	O
unmoderated	O
,	O
a	O
feature	O
that	O
was	O
not	O
shared	O
by	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
other	O
Usenet	B-Application
or	O
altnet	O
newsgroups	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
early	O
1997	O
a	O
moderated	O
version	O
of	O
alt.sex.stories	B-Application
was	O
created	O
due	O
to	O
an	O
increasing	O
number	O
of	O
posts	O
by	O
"	O
various	O
pay	O
services	O
,	O
scam	O
artists	O
,	O
and	O
bots	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
the	O
twenty	O
years	O
in	O
which	O
it	O
was	O
active	O
,	O
the	O
moderated	O
newsgroup	B-Application
(	O
ASSM	B-Application
)	O
has	O
always	O
operated	O
by	O
cross-posting	O
all	O
approved	O
stories	O
to	O
alt.sex.stories	B-Application
,	O
and	O
was	O
not	O
simply	O
a	O
filtered	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
unmoderated	O
group	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
stories	O
posted	O
to	O
ASSM	B-Application
were	O
specifically	O
submitted	O
there	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Day-to-day	O
operations	O
and	O
general	O
direction	O
of	O
ASSM	B-Application
were	O
overseen	O
by	O
the	O
Alt.Sex.Stories	B-Application
Text	O
Repository	O
(	O
ASSTR	B-Application
)	O
,	O
which	O
coordinated	O
a	O
group	O
of	O
volunteers	O
to	O
moderate	O
the	O
newsgroup	B-Application
using	O
a	O
web-based	O
voting	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ASSTR	B-Application
also	O
hosts	O
an	O
archive	O
of	O
the	O
newsgroup	B-Application
,	O
and	O
hosted	O
a	O
mirror	O
of	O
the	O
Nifty	O
Erotic	O
Stories	O
Archive	O
(	O
gay	O
,	O
now	O
located	O
at	O
nifty.org	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Eventually	O
,	O
ASSM	B-Application
became	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
few	O
remaining	O
active	O
groups	O
in	O
the	O
alt.sex	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Due	O
to	O
competition	O
from	O
web-based	O
erotica	O
sites	O
and	O
communities	O
,	O
the	O
volume	O
of	O
stories	O
posted	O
to	O
ASSM	B-Application
(	O
and	O
thus	O
to	O
alt.sex.stories	B-Application
)	O
had	O
dropped	O
considerably	O
by	O
2006	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
asstr.org	O
website	O
was	O
last	O
updated	O
in	O
2017	O
and	O
is	O
no	O
longer	O
stable	O
,	O
having	O
dropped	O
completely	O
offline	O
in	O
July	O
2022	O
only	O
to	O
reappear	O
(	O
with	O
no	O
new	O
content	O
)	O
in	O
2023	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Alt.sex.stories	B-Application
is	O
notable	O
for	O
assisting	O
in	O
the	O
launch	O
of	O
several	O
notable	O
authors	O
of	O
erotica	O
such	O
as	O
Elf	O
Sternberg	O
and	O
Mary	O
Anne	O
Mohanraj	O
.	O
</s>
