<s>
A	O
Usenet	B-Application
newsgroup	I-Application
is	O
a	O
repository	B-Application
usually	O
within	O
the	O
Usenet	B-Application
system	O
,	O
for	O
messages	O
posted	O
from	O
users	O
in	O
different	O
locations	O
using	O
the	O
Internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Newsgroups	B-Application
are	O
technically	O
distinct	O
from	O
,	O
but	O
functionally	O
similar	O
to	O
,	O
discussion	B-Application
forums	I-Application
on	O
the	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Newsreader	B-Protocol
software	O
is	O
used	O
to	O
read	O
the	O
content	O
of	O
newsgroups	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Before	O
the	O
adoption	O
of	O
the	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
,	O
Usenet	B-Application
newsgroups	I-Application
were	O
among	O
the	O
most	O
popular	O
Internet	O
services	O
,	O
and	O
have	O
retained	O
their	O
noncommercial	O
nature	O
in	O
contrast	O
to	O
the	O
increasingly	O
ad-laden	O
web	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
recent	O
years	O
,	O
this	O
form	O
of	O
open	O
discussion	O
on	O
the	O
Internet	O
has	O
lost	O
considerable	O
ground	O
to	O
individually-operated	O
browser-accessible	O
forums	O
and	O
big	O
media	O
social	O
networks	O
such	O
as	O
Facebook	B-Application
and	O
Twitter	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Communication	O
is	O
facilitated	O
by	O
the	O
Network	B-Protocol
News	I-Protocol
Transfer	I-Protocol
Protocol	I-Protocol
(	O
NNTP	B-Protocol
)	O
which	O
allows	O
connection	O
to	O
Usenet	B-Application
servers	O
and	O
data	O
transfer	O
over	O
the	O
internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Similar	O
to	O
another	O
early	O
(	O
yet	O
still	O
used	O
)	O
protocol	O
SMTP	O
which	O
is	O
used	O
for	O
email	O
messages	O
,	O
NNTP	B-Protocol
allows	O
both	O
server-server	O
and	O
client-server	O
communication	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
means	O
that	O
newsgroups	B-Application
can	O
be	O
replicated	O
from	O
server	B-Application
to	O
server	B-Application
which	O
gives	O
the	O
Usenet	B-Application
network	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
maintain	O
a	O
level	O
of	O
robust	O
data	O
persistence	O
as	O
a	O
result	O
of	O
built-in	O
data	O
redundancy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
most	O
users	O
will	O
access	O
using	O
only	O
the	O
client-server	O
commands	O
of	O
NNTP	B-Protocol
and	O
in	O
almost	O
all	O
cases	O
will	O
use	O
a	O
GUI	O
for	O
browsing	O
as	O
opposed	O
to	O
command	O
line	O
based	O
client-server	O
communication	O
specified	O
in	O
the	O
NNTP	B-Protocol
protocol	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Newsgroups	B-Application
generally	O
come	O
in	O
either	O
of	O
two	O
types	O
,	O
binary	O
or	O
text	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Generally	O
,	O
Usenet	B-Application
conventions	O
and	O
rules	O
are	O
enacted	O
with	O
the	O
primary	O
intention	O
of	O
minimizing	O
the	O
overall	O
amount	O
of	O
network	O
traffic	O
and	O
resource	O
usage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Typically	O
,	O
the	O
newsgroup	B-Application
is	O
focused	O
on	O
a	O
particular	O
topic	O
of	O
interest	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
message	O
sent	O
for	O
publication	O
on	O
a	O
newsgroup	B-Application
is	O
called	O
a	O
"	O
post	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
newsgroups	B-Application
allow	O
posts	O
on	O
a	O
wide	O
variety	O
of	O
themes	O
,	O
regarding	O
anything	O
a	O
member	O
chooses	O
to	O
discuss	O
as	O
on-topic	O
,	O
while	O
others	O
keep	O
more	O
strictly	O
to	O
their	O
particular	O
subject	O
,	O
frowning	O
on	O
off-topic	O
posts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
news	O
admin	O
(	O
the	O
administrator	O
of	O
a	O
news	B-Application
server	I-Application
)	O
decides	O
how	O
long	O
posts	O
are	O
kept	O
on	O
their	O
server	B-Application
before	O
being	O
expired	O
(	O
deleted	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
called	O
retention	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Different	O
servers	O
will	O
have	O
different	O
retention	O
times	O
for	O
the	O
same	O
newsgroup	B-Application
;	O
some	O
may	O
keep	O
posts	O
for	O
as	O
little	O
as	O
one	O
or	O
two	O
weeks	O
,	O
others	O
may	O
hold	O
them	O
for	O
many	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
number	O
of	O
newsgroups	B-Application
grew	O
from	O
more	O
than	O
100	O
as	O
of	O
1983	O
to	O
more	O
than	O
110	O
,	O
000	O
,	O
but	O
only	O
20,000	O
or	O
so	O
of	O
those	O
are	O
active	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Newsgroups	B-Application
vary	O
in	O
popularity	O
;	O
some	O
newsgroups	B-Application
receive	O
fewer	O
than	O
a	O
dozen	O
posts	O
per	O
year	O
while	O
the	O
most	O
popular	O
can	O
get	O
several	O
thousand	O
in	O
under	O
an	O
hour	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
newsgroups	B-Application
were	O
not	O
created	O
with	O
the	O
intention	O
of	O
distributing	O
files	O
such	O
as	O
pictures	O
,	O
sound	O
and	O
video	O
,	O
they	O
have	O
proven	O
to	O
be	O
quite	O
effective	O
for	O
this	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
newsgroups	B-Application
are	O
widely	O
distributed	O
,	O
a	O
file	O
uploaded	B-Application
once	O
will	O
be	O
spread	O
to	O
many	O
other	O
servers	O
and	O
can	O
then	O
be	O
downloaded	B-Application
by	O
an	O
unlimited	O
number	O
of	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
More	O
useful	O
is	O
that	O
users	O
download	B-Application
from	O
a	O
local	O
news	B-Application
server	I-Application
,	O
rather	O
than	O
from	O
a	O
more	O
distant	O
machine	O
with	O
perhaps	O
limited	O
connectivity	O
,	O
as	O
may	O
be	O
the	O
case	O
with	O
peer-to-peer	O
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
fact	O
,	O
this	O
is	O
another	O
benefit	O
of	O
newsgroups	B-Application
:	O
it	O
is	O
usually	O
not	O
expected	O
that	O
users	O
share	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
every	O
user	O
makes	O
uploads	B-Application
then	O
the	O
servers	O
would	O
be	O
flooded	O
;	O
thus	O
it	O
is	O
acceptable	O
and	O
often	O
encouraged	O
for	O
users	O
to	O
just	O
leech	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
were	O
originally	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
obstacles	O
to	O
the	O
transfer	O
of	O
binary	O
files	O
over	O
Usenet	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Usenet	B-Application
was	O
originally	O
designed	O
with	O
the	O
transmission	O
of	O
text	O
in	O
mind	O
,	O
and	O
so	O
the	O
encoding	O
of	O
posts	O
caused	O
losses	O
in	O
binary	O
data	O
where	O
the	O
data	O
was	O
not	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
protocol	O
's	O
character	B-General_Concept
set	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
workarounds	O
,	O
codecs	B-General_Concept
such	O
as	O
Uuencode	B-Device
and	O
later	O
Base64	B-Protocol
and	O
yEnc	O
were	O
developed	O
which	O
encoded	O
the	O
binary	O
data	O
from	O
the	O
files	O
to	O
be	O
transmitted	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
sound	O
or	O
video	O
files	O
)	O
to	O
text	O
characters	O
which	O
would	O
survive	O
transmission	O
over	O
Usenet	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
receiver	O
's	O
end	O
,	O
the	O
data	O
needed	O
to	O
be	O
decoded	O
by	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
news	B-Protocol
client	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
get	O
around	O
this	O
,	O
Newsreaders	B-Protocol
were	O
developed	O
which	O
were	O
able	O
to	O
split	O
long	O
files	O
into	O
several	O
posts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Intelligent	O
newsreaders	B-Protocol
at	O
the	O
other	O
end	O
could	O
then	O
automatically	O
group	O
such	O
split	O
files	O
into	O
single	O
files	O
,	O
allowing	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
easily	O
retrieve	O
the	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
advances	O
have	O
meant	O
that	O
Usenet	B-Application
is	O
used	O
to	O
send	O
and	O
receive	O
many	O
terabytes	O
of	O
files	O
per	O
day	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
two	O
main	O
issues	O
that	O
pose	O
problems	O
for	O
transmitting	O
large	O
files	O
over	O
newsgroups	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
business	O
of	O
premium	O
news	B-Application
servers	I-Application
is	O
generated	O
primarily	O
on	O
their	O
ability	O
to	O
offer	O
superior	O
completion	O
and	O
retention	O
rates	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
their	O
ability	O
to	O
offer	O
very	O
fast	O
connections	O
to	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Completion	O
rates	O
are	O
significant	O
when	O
users	O
wish	O
to	O
download	B-Application
large	O
files	O
that	O
are	O
split	O
into	O
pieces	O
;	O
if	O
any	O
one	O
piece	O
is	O
missing	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
impossible	O
to	O
successfully	O
download	B-Application
and	O
reassemble	O
the	O
desired	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
work	O
around	O
the	O
problem	O
,	O
a	O
redundancy	O
scheme	O
known	O
as	O
Parchive	B-General_Concept
(	O
PAR	B-General_Concept
)	O
is	O
commonly	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Major	O
news	B-Application
servers	I-Application
have	O
a	O
retention	O
time	O
of	O
more	O
than	O
7	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
number	O
of	O
websites	O
exist	O
to	O
keep	O
an	O
index	O
of	O
files	O
posted	O
to	O
binary	O
newsgroups	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Partly	O
because	O
of	O
such	O
long	O
retention	O
times	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
growing	O
uploading	B-Application
and	O
downloading	B-Application
speeds	O
,	O
Usenet	B-Application
is	O
also	O
used	O
by	O
individuals	O
to	O
store	O
backup	B-Protocol
data	O
in	O
a	O
practice	O
called	O
Usenet	B-Application
backup	B-Protocol
,	O
or	O
uBackup	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
commercial	O
providers	O
offer	O
easier-to-use	B-General_Concept
online	B-General_Concept
backup	I-General_Concept
services	I-General_Concept
,	O
storing	O
data	O
on	O
Usenet	B-Application
is	O
free	O
of	O
charge	O
(	O
although	O
access	O
to	O
Usenet	B-Application
itself	O
may	O
not	O
be	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
user	O
must	O
manually	O
select	O
,	O
prepare	O
and	O
upload	B-Application
the	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
anyone	O
can	O
download	B-Application
the	O
backup	B-Protocol
files	O
,	O
the	O
data	O
is	O
typically	O
encrypted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
the	O
files	O
are	O
uploaded	B-Application
,	O
the	O
uploader	B-Application
has	O
no	O
control	O
over	O
them	O
;	O
they	O
are	O
automatically	O
distributed	O
to	O
all	O
Usenet	B-Application
providers	O
that	O
subscribe	O
to	O
the	O
newsgroup	B-Application
they	O
are	O
uploaded	B-Application
to	O
,	O
so	O
there	O
will	O
be	O
copies	O
of	O
them	O
spread	O
all	O
around	O
the	O
world	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
Newsgroups	B-Application
are	O
not	O
moderated	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
moderated	O
newsgroup	B-Application
has	O
one	O
or	O
more	O
individuals	O
who	O
must	O
approve	O
posts	O
before	O
they	O
are	O
published	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
moderated	O
newsgroups	B-Application
appeared	O
in	O
1984	O
under	O
mod	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Transmission	O
within	O
and	O
at	O
the	O
bounds	O
of	O
the	O
network	O
uses	O
the	O
Network	B-Protocol
News	I-Protocol
Transfer	I-Protocol
Protocol	I-Protocol
(	O
NNTP	B-Protocol
)	O
(	O
Internet	O
standard	O
RFC	O
3977	O
of	O
2006	O
,	O
updating	O
RFC	O
977	O
of	O
1986	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Newsgroup	B-Application
servers	O
are	O
hosted	O
by	O
various	O
organizations	O
and	O
institutions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
Internet	O
service	O
providers	O
host	O
their	O
own	O
news	B-Application
servers	I-Application
,	O
or	O
rent	O
access	O
to	O
one	O
,	O
for	O
their	O
subscribers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
also	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
companies	O
who	O
sell	O
access	O
to	O
premium	O
news	B-Application
servers	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Every	O
host	O
of	O
a	O
news	B-Application
server	I-Application
maintains	O
agreements	O
with	O
other	O
nearby	O
news	B-Application
servers	I-Application
to	O
synchronize	O
regularly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
this	O
way	O
news	B-Application
servers	I-Application
form	O
a	O
redundant	O
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
a	O
user	O
posts	O
to	O
one	O
news	B-Application
server	I-Application
,	O
the	O
post	O
is	O
stored	O
locally	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
That	O
server	B-Application
then	O
shares	O
posts	O
with	O
the	O
servers	O
that	O
are	O
connected	O
to	O
it	O
for	O
those	O
newsgroups	B-Application
they	O
both	O
carry	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
newsgroups	B-Application
that	O
are	O
not	O
widely	O
carried	O
,	O
sometimes	O
a	O
carrier	O
group	O
is	O
used	O
for	O
crossposting	B-Application
to	O
aid	O
distribution	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
typically	O
only	O
useful	O
for	O
groups	O
that	O
have	O
been	O
removed	O
or	O
newer	O
alt	B-Architecture
.	I-Architecture
</s>
<s>
Crossposts	B-Application
between	O
hierarchies	O
,	O
outside	O
of	O
the	O
Big	O
8	O
and	O
alt	B-Architecture
.	I-Architecture
</s>
<s>
Newsgroups	B-Application
are	O
often	O
arranged	O
into	O
hierarchies	O
,	O
theoretically	O
making	O
it	O
simpler	O
to	O
find	O
related	O
groups	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
most	O
commonly	O
known	O
hierarchies	O
are	O
the	O
Usenet	B-Application
hierarchies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
So	O
for	O
instance	O
newsgroup	B-Application
rec.arts.sf.starwars.games	O
would	O
be	O
in	O
the	O
rec	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
*	O
top-level	O
Usenet	B-Application
hierarchy	O
,	O
where	O
the	O
asterisk	O
( *	O
)	O
is	O
defined	O
as	O
a	O
wildcard	B-Algorithm
character	I-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
were	O
seven	O
original	O
major	O
hierarchies	O
of	O
Usenet	B-Application
newsgroups	I-Application
,	O
known	O
as	O
the	O
"	O
Big	O
7	O
"	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
were	O
all	O
created	O
in	O
the	B-Architecture
Great	I-Architecture
Renaming	I-Architecture
of	O
19861987	O
,	O
before	O
which	O
all	O
of	O
these	O
newsgroups	B-Application
were	O
in	O
the	O
net	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
that	O
time	O
there	O
was	O
a	O
great	O
controversy	O
over	O
what	O
newsgroups	B-Application
should	O
be	O
allowed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Among	O
those	O
that	O
the	O
Usenet	B-Application
cabal	O
(	O
who	O
effectively	O
ran	O
the	O
Big	O
7	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
)	O
did	O
not	O
allow	O
were	O
those	O
concerning	O
recipes	O
,	O
recreational	O
drug	O
use	O
,	O
and	O
sex	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
situation	O
resulted	O
in	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
an	O
alt	B-Architecture
.	I-Architecture
</s>
<s>
*	O
(	O
short	O
for	O
"	O
alternative	O
"	O
)	O
Usenet	B-Application
hierarchy	O
,	O
under	O
which	O
these	O
groups	O
would	O
be	O
allowed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Over	O
time	O
,	O
the	O
laxness	O
of	O
rules	O
on	O
newsgroup	B-Application
creation	O
in	O
alt	B-Architecture
.	I-Architecture
</s>
<s>
*	O
compared	O
to	O
the	O
Big	O
7	O
meant	O
that	O
many	O
new	O
topics	O
could	O
,	O
given	O
time	O
,	O
gain	O
enough	O
popularity	O
to	O
get	O
a	O
Big	O
7	O
newsgroup	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
was	O
a	O
rapid	O
growth	O
of	O
alt	B-Architecture
.	I-Architecture
</s>
<s>
Because	O
of	O
the	O
anarchistic	O
nature	O
with	O
which	O
the	O
groups	O
sprang	O
up	O
,	O
some	O
jokingly	O
referred	O
to	O
ALT	O
standing	O
for	O
"	O
Anarchists	O
,	O
Lunatics	O
and	O
Terrorists	B-Device
"	O
(	O
a	O
backronym	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
alt	B-Architecture
.	I-Architecture
</s>
<s>
Before	O
a	O
new	O
Big	O
8	O
newsgroup	B-Application
can	O
be	O
created	O
,	O
an	O
RFD	O
(	O
Request	O
For	O
Discussion	O
)	O
must	O
be	O
posted	O
into	O
the	O
newsgroup	B-Application
,	O
which	O
is	O
then	O
discussed	O
in	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Creating	O
a	O
new	O
group	O
in	O
the	O
alt	B-Architecture
.	I-Architecture
</s>
<s>
*	O
hierarchy	O
is	O
not	O
subject	O
to	O
the	O
same	O
rules	O
;	O
anybody	O
can	O
create	O
a	O
newsgroup	B-Application
,	O
and	O
anybody	O
can	O
remove	O
it	O
,	O
but	O
most	O
news	O
administrators	O
will	O
ignore	O
these	O
requests	O
unless	O
a	O
local	O
user	O
requests	O
the	O
group	O
by	O
name	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
newsgroup	B-Application
hierarchies	O
outside	O
of	O
the	O
Big	O
8	O
(	O
and	O
alt	B-Architecture
.	I-Architecture
</s>
<s>
*	O
)	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
found	O
on	O
many	O
news	B-Application
servers	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
include	O
non-English	O
language	O
groups	O
,	O
groups	O
managed	O
by	O
companies	O
or	O
organizations	O
about	O
their	O
products	O
,	O
geographic/local	O
hierarchies	O
,	O
and	O
even	O
non-internet	O
network	O
boards	O
routed	O
into	O
NNTP	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
*	O
hierarchy	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
considered	O
"	O
more	O
alt	O
than	O
alt.*	B-Architecture
"	O
.	O
</s>
