Risk on Newgroups ?

Hi, I've never used Newsgroups before, though I've read up on how to use them and how they work.

I checked my ISPs newsgroups, but unfortunately they carry zero binary newsgroups :crying: So I was thinking about signing up to a pay server.

But I was wondering about the risk. Obviously they is no chance of an "agent" downloading from you, but this is what I don't get, the server guys must know people are downloading games/movies from them because they are supplying the binary newsgroups (if they didn't want us to download from them they wouldn't supply them, like my ISP). So why don't the authorities come down on the servers ? ie : the guys running around sueing people on kazaa, emule etc. Why do they not go after the newsgroup servers?

And do these pay servers keep logs?, so if they happened to be supoena'd for data anyone getting the stuff would be in the crapper ?

Thanks for the info

i thought the crime was uploading, not downloading???

First of all if I were to guess I think the content that your referring to is a small part of what Usenet is used for and does not warrant the need to be hassled and battle against such a large entity such as Usenet or those that have servers and the fact that there are huge ligitimate uses of Usenet which some may not relize and also the fact that Usenet has been around as long as the internet itself and not to mention the usage of Usenet as such I would think is quite small by comparison, just my thoughts anyways. However if you were to ul certain content through your ISP clearly attached to where from within a country that finds doing so an issue you could well be found and held liable for such...

Thanks for the response.

ofbz:
I'm not up on other countries laws, UK myself, but I'm pretty sure downloading is illegal too. It's just a case of they mainly go after the UL'ers because stopping them stops the downloaders too (as where would they download), less so vice-versa.
Correct me if I'm wrong.

Reality:
So how do the UL'ers to newsgroups get away with it?

Are there any good newsgroup servers out there which actually advertise no logs?
I was always under the impression that most of the files that end up on p2p networks is first shared through IRC and newsgroups, so I worry that to go get any movies/games first-hand is as risky as using BitTorrent or the like.
And protowall ain't gonna help me on a newsgroup server.
Its all conspiracy crap, but I would have thought that a newsgroup server would make a good honeypot if they could actually be arsed going after downloaders.

Thanks again.

Im in the UK as well, along with IRC, and private FTP's Newsgroups is the safest way to download. Mainly because no logs are kept on any. IRC is so big with so many channels if there was to be a government attack on it, it would be aimed at the people serving the warez only. Private ftp's delete logs as they are made in real time, meaning if a FTP site was caught all they would see is the warez on it, no ip's no logs no nothing. To log newsgroups would cost companies more than they make so there is no logging made on newsgroups an dyou can post files (upload them) anon so it would be extreamly rare if you were caught uploading files.

Thanks, it was mainly the logs thing that concerned me.

I got a free account from yottanews and was gonna DL a few things to see how I get on, but a gig/month is pretty dam restrictive. Suppose I needa go check the server reviews and find the best price/completion/cap ratio. I can't believe my ISP doesn't have 1 binary group, how crap, its not like they're cheap.

The best server i say is to get Newshosting. Im with NTL and they offer most groups, no data limits and about 10 day retention (how long files stay on servers) which for an ISP is a great service, however NTL offers no DVDr groups. So for $15 a month (Thats £7.50 English) i get access to every group pritty much (i doubt thy have them all because there are millions of groups with not 1 file in them but i've never had an issue with getting any of my files). It's also unlimited, i do between 300GB and 500GB a month on it with not one complant. Also although its against there T&C, i share the account with another person meaning the price can be split, like i said, never had an email about my massive data useage or the fact i break there T&C.

They let you use 4 slots to download (so thats 2 each) and i maxx out my 3MB connection on 1 connection.

I have tried Giganews but after doing 100gb they capped my account at 1MB (meaning no matter what i did i could only download at about 125kb/s. I emailed asking if there was an issue on my end and they replied saying they saw no problems and hey would cancel my account (even though i hadn't asked them to) and refund me my money, i never got the refund. I googled about and i've found about another 50 threads on totally different forums with people getting the exact same email as i got. I study IT at college and im not stupid i know they capped me but they won't admit it. Even though they advertise as unlimited download they are clearly not. Stay away.

Go with Newshosting! Its better than Giganews and £10 cheaper. http://www.newshosting.com/

Thanks for all the advice.
You're on NTL and bringing that much down a month on a 1Gig a day cap?, you've never got got any kind of letter from them?
Is there any particular reason Yotta give a free account out?, I know they've restricted it alot with the cap but they are still the only ones that do it.

This is in Yottanews's Acceptable Use Policy :

Quote:

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Privacy Policy:
Our policy is that no user information will be given to third party without a court order. Although privacy issues are very important to us, given the current regulatory and technical environment you should not have an expectation of privacy in your Account or any files transmitted through it.

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The first line makes you feel ok, then it goes downhill. Not any expectation at all ? :crying:

isn't newsgroups just full of text? and you get newsreaders to decode this text into the files you want?

So downloading or uploading text isn't illegal, aint that why the authorities dont go after newsgroups?

Ive only been using newsgroups a few days, but i think i read that somewhere, but could be wrong

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FilesAreGood

So how do the UL'ers to newsgroups get away with it?

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Most payservers dont log nor do they want to because they would only be biting their own clientel and income in terms of losing clientel if it were found out and the fact that it would cost to do so and if they do log its very minimal and for short periods to identtify spam posters.

As for ul I would suspect most use a major payserver such Giga or NewsHosting and the like as they are well known and have never had to turn over a log that I know of and additionally those that do ul most likely also use proxy , vpn or the like or are ul from areas that are not an issue perhaps.

As for a conspiracy I guess anything is possible so if you have major concerns stay away from newer servers and if you intend to ul stay with a well known server also. I will say ul through an ISP would basically be consired plain foolish really. As for who a good deal well NewsHosting is most likely the best I think...