Ok, Newgroups Rocks Now, but I Have A Few General Questions.

So back in the late 90's, early 2k, I gave usenet a shot and absolutely hated it...the retention was horrible and I found it to be (hard to believe) more complex to search compared to IRC. Not long after this torrents came around and all my favorite IRC Channels slowly started to die. I naturally advanced from the likes of torrentspy, suprnova, etc...into private torrent sites and have been using them for years now.

Fast forward to today, I recently read an article about how superior usenet is compared to torrents So after searching for trials, I decided to give Newdemon a try. I fell in love with it. The speeds were awesome and retention has greatly improved, which makes it a very viable option. The bonus is the fact I do not have to maintain ratios.
The only issue I found in my trial was that Newsdemon's retention got very sketchy past 500-600 days. Which can be a big deal when looking for rare stuff...which I do fairly often.

I got to reading that the retention issue was more related to the likes of Newsdemon and like providers and I should stick to providers like Giganews, astraweb, and such. The problem is, I'm not fond of paying $20+/mo for downloads...I just can't stomach it. So Giganews is out. I have been debating between Supernews and Astraweb but neither offer trials. My biggest concern is, again, retention. How reliable are the retention rates they advertise? Are there any other providers worth looking into, around the same price range with the same benefits?
What exactly are block accounts? I keep reading about them but don't quite understand what they are...

Also, I'm concerned with security. I can not find any information about "what" information they store and what they would be willing to share if ever hassled for user information.

I remember those times. 10 years ago usenet retention was only about 10 days at best. Getting files was another art form entirely. You had to check headers at least every week to see if anything good was posted that week -- and then download it fast before it got deleted off the server. DMCA takedowns were practically non-existent on usenet back then; since files lived for only a handful of days, there was simply no need for them.

I think you mean "completion" rather than "retention" - when you refer to missing articles.

Newsdemon is a reseller of Highwinds. Just google "highwinds" + "completion" and you'll see all the complaints -- you're not alone in your discovery.

BTW, Giganews = Supernews (but at < half the price)

Be aware that most providers offer discount specials. Don't ever pay more than $12/month max for any unlimited service. Virtually all 1000+ day retention providers can be had for $10-$11/month for unlimited SSL.

The best overall completion rate right now is probably with Ngroups/Usenet-news and Usenetnow/Blocknews which use a Readnews backend. But you can get virtually-100% completion by setting up a block account fill server (ie Blocknews) with your primary account (just make sure they're not feeding off the same backend).

As for security, if you only download and don't post files, then you should have absolutely nothing to worry about. (posting material is another issue entirely)

It's true that the better-priced offers don't have trials. One thing you can do as a self-serving "trial" is to start with a block account from either Blocknews.net or Usenet-News.net. Since the purchased gigabytes never expire until used, even if for some reason it does not work for you (slow speed perhaps?) you can just hold onto it and use it as a backup/fill for another provider like Supernews or Astraweb.

I'll repeat again that if you're concerned about completion, the only way to get perfect completion --with any provider-- is to set up a (secondary) block as a fill/backup server on your newsreader.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by apes

Also, I'm concerned with security. I can not find any information about "what" information they store and what they would be willing to share if ever hassled for user information.

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There is around 7-8TB of content being posted every day on usenet, and with retention rates going 1,000+ thats a ton of data. Providers don't want to store logs of what people are downloading, its not practical. The only time you're going to get into problems is when you post content. Thats when copyright holders send in DMCA takedown letters to the usenet provider. When you post, the provider puts into the header something that looks like this:

Quote:

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X-Usenet-Provider: http://www.giganews.com
X-Trace: sv3-5ObH7BgnSX07KGMJtncvXi35/Jfikkv4fYVpEhOrC/D+M/6VwTGbtlCSD2Uj97R3TWVVJ/Zmp2BCp19!1DXNBPMKpWrRIoaTJSExIRo5tNjPJhlE/yj0wDBiFrVw+A1b5wmyXzRxZ7yKEWXXhtSY7/mx
X-Complaints-To: [email protected]
X-DMCA-Notifications: http://www.giganews.com/info/dmca.html
X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers
X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly

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The X-Trace is account info and probably an IP address that only the usenet provider can decode. Thats how they get around the problem of logs. So if you don't post, you'll never have any problems.

Thanks cola, that was what I was wondering.

zot: Yeah, I meant completion rate...figured retention and completion was tied in together but I understand now. :)
So basically, a block account is just an account where you pay for say, 50GB, from a different backend?

Why is supernews so much cheaper than giganews if they are the same? That part boggles me.

GIganews doesn't want to compete against Astraweb with its flagship product. They can make Giganews.com look like the best product by maintaining the higher price. But they still have to compete with Astraweb, so they just have a daughter company do it. Its kind of like how store brands are often made by the same people who make a name brand product, yet the store brand is still cheaper.

Supernews also doesn't offer the VPN service and a couple other extra that GN users get with their subscriptions.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by apes

So basically, a block account is just an account where you pay for say, 50GB, from a different backend?

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Yes. The only major backend that does not have non-expiring block accounts is Giganews, though I understand that Giganews blocks were sold several years ago.

All new to me never got into newsgroups tbh, interesting read though