said by pacemkr:So why is it asking for a username and password?
OOL outsourced the news service to an outside company called Highwinds Media. news.optonline.net simply directs you to Highwinds' servers.
Highwinds offers service custom tailored to the ISP's needs, offering different speeds, different numbers of simultaneous connections, different authentication mechanisms. Cablevision has chosen to authenticate users based on their IP number, but other ISPs use other means, including NNTP authentication. When you connect from a foreign ISP, Highwinds doesn't know that you are an OOL customer, and that is why they ask for login credentials.
