Re: Google Groups Likely Blocked

Kent Paul Dolan wrote, On 2007/09/12 19:58:
David Iain Greig <dgr...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Google can't or won't do anything about spam.

You are aware that they are, arguably properly,
certainly as argued to be correct behavior by many
Usenet luminaries for decades now, behaving as a
"common carrier" that treats all transmissions
neutrally?

Excluding spam is not Google Group's tasking, nor
should it be. Do you really want a company you don't
trust anyway, censoring Usenet?

I think you're missing the point. In this case, Google groups is not acting as a common carrier. Since virtually all Usenet spam originates from Google Groups accounts, in these cases Google Groups is acting as an endpoint, not a simple pass through.

What people are wanting is not for Google to censor postings that originate elsewhere and simply pass through, but for Google to actually act as a responsible endpoint and to act against people who abuse Google Groups accounts by sending spam. IOW, to have a terms of service agreement and to revoke access of those who break it.

More to the point, for most Usenet old timers, to
whom the archives are as important as the current
postings, Google Groups _is_ Usenet, end of
discussion.

No. To the "old timers" Google Groups is an _archive_, not the summa totalis of Usenet.


I'll probably be blocking posting from Google
soon.

That would be an insane overreaction to a trivial
problem.

If you think spam should be filtered, *you* install
a spam filter in your automated posting path. It
needn't be complex, just something that sets aside
postings with a few key words for manual moderation.

If you complain that doing so would be difficult,
why would you propose to hold Google Groups to a
different standard?

How about holding Google to the same standard? I.e. somebody logs into $isp and posts spam. We complain to $isp admin aous spam originating from $isp. $isp does nothing. We block $isp.

Now, you can set $isp = "Sentex" (my ISP), or you can set $isp = "Google Groups". Same thing.

If you want to filter that, filter its origin, the
internet service providers who host spammers, not
Google Groups.

And, in the case of 99% of usenet spam, that spam does originate on Google.

.

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