dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
78855

Endian
@rr.com

1 recommendation

Endian

Anon

[TWC] Road Runner Newsgroups Discontinued

Road Runner has announced that effective June 23, 2008 that they are discontinuing the newsgroup service due to low subscriber usage. This info can be found on Road Runner's membership web site. It's located under Important Announcements. What are they going to get rid of next?
RonR
join:2003-10-10
Ash Flat, AR

RonR

Member

said by Endian :

they are discontinuing the newsgroup service due to low subscriber usage.
Which explains why the service is so heavily overloaded as of late. What a crock!

djrobx
Premium Member
join:2000-05-31
Reno, NV

1 edit

djrobx

Premium Member

said by RonR:

said by Endian :

they are discontinuing the newsgroup service due to low subscriber usage.
Which explains why the service is so heavily overloaded as of late. What a crock!
A crock indeed. That's almost as bad as Beaumont's "Our new usage-based billing makes your Internet experience even better." I fully accept that they're discontinuing the service, but please don't patronize me with BS like that.
45612019 (banned)
join:2004-02-05
New York, NY

45612019 (banned) to Endian

Member

to Endian
said by Endian :

Road Runner has announced that effective June 23, 2008 that they are discontinuing the newsgroup service due to low subscriber usage. This info can be found on Road Runner's membership web site. It's located under Important Announcements. What are they going to get rid of next?
»www.theregister.co.uk/20 ··· ackdown/

Are you fucking kidding me? There's a reason why I rail against child pornography laws.

Look at this bullshit. CHILD PORNOGRAPHY LAWS DO NOT PROTECT CHILDREN, AND THEY GIVE ISPS EXCUSES TO FUCK UP OUR service.
Tommyastro
join:2004-01-18
Poughkeepsie, NY

Tommyastro to Endian

Member

to Endian
I thought it was just the groups that cater to child porn? Which I imagine are used by only a few, very sick people. I have not heard they are doing away with all newsgroups.
Baseline7
join:2001-02-26
Buffalo, NY

1 edit

Baseline7 to Endian

Member

to Endian
What a load of crap...

That is the worst excuse on the planet to get rid of ALL newsgroup access.

Granted, those who are looking at kiddie porn are sick f*cks, but they should just be arrested anyway... Don't ruin the rest of cool newsgroups for everyone.

FIOS still has their freebie newsgroups. So lame that people 5 minutes away in my area can get FIOS and I can't.
45612019 (banned)
join:2004-02-05
New York, NY

45612019 (banned) to Tommyastro

Member

to Tommyastro
said by Tommyastro:

I thought it was just the groups that cater to child porn? Which I imagine are used by only a few, very sick people. I have not heard they are doing away with all newsgroups.
No. This is an obvious red herring that Time Warner Cable is using to get rid of all of their Usenet access. That's right: No more 110-day retention + unlimited bandwidth binary Usenet from their outsourced services to Newshosting included for free with our Internet subscriptions after June 23.

I suggest you guys grab all you can off of Usenet and start looking into third party Usenet providers. For an equivalent of what you've been getting for free from Time Warner, you'll have to pay around $20 a month from a third party provider.

Hey, Time Warner! I look forward to my $20 cheaper a month Internet bill, you assholes.

rcdailey
Dragoonfly
Premium Member
join:2005-03-29
Rialto, CA

rcdailey to Baseline7

Premium Member

to Baseline7
My use of newsgroups has been very limited, so I probably won't feel the impact that much. However, I can see that TWC RoadRunner are just cutting down on their offerings while maintaining or increasing their monthly rates over time. After all, they were already outsourcing to Newshosting, I believe.
45612019 (banned)
join:2004-02-05
New York, NY

45612019 (banned) to Endian

Member

to Endian
Seriously, Time Warner's excellent Usenet access and no bandwidth caps are what made them one of the top ISPs in the nation.

Now that they're getting rid of it, and attempting to implement ridiculously low bandwidth caps in the future, I can't see how they possibly expect to compete with Verizon FIOS and AT&T's U-verse.

It's not like they're bleeding for money - Time Warner Cable is very profitable. These are boneheaded business moves indeed. I don't know what idiot they hired in management that is pushing through all these changes that will drive customers away, but if I was a stockholder I would be furious.

Racerbob
Premium Member
join:2001-06-24
Webster, NY
·Frontier FiberOp..

1 edit

Racerbob

Premium Member

I think that over 75 to 80% of internet subscribers these days have no clue what a newsgroup is anyway. Seriously. By the way, this is old news. This news was posted on the alt.online-services.roadrunner by me on the 5th....right after I read about this on the main page of this site.

rcdailey
Dragoonfly
Premium Member
join:2005-03-29
Rialto, CA

rcdailey to 45612019

Premium Member

to 45612019
How many customers will be driven away? TWC must have an idea of how many usenet subscribers they currently have. Is usenet the big draw for FiOS, where that is available? The number of customers TWC will lose may not cost them as much as they will save by simply not having to support usenet either via their own servers or by outsourcing. At some level, the bean counters win and the customers lose. I wonder what Calvin Coolidge would think?
45612019 (banned)
join:2004-02-05
New York, NY

45612019 (banned)

Member

said by rcdailey:

How many customers will be driven away? TWC must have an idea of how many usenet subscribers they currently have. Is usenet the big draw for FiOS, where that is available? The number of customers TWC will lose may not cost them as much as they will save by simply not having to support usenet either via their own servers or by outsourcing. At some level, the bean counters win and the customers lose. I wonder what Calvin Coolidge would think?
Time Warner has over 7 million Usenet subscribers.

rcdailey
Dragoonfly
Premium Member
join:2005-03-29
Rialto, CA

rcdailey

Premium Member

said by 45612019:

said by rcdailey:

How many customers will be driven away? TWC must have an idea of how many usenet subscribers they currently have. Is usenet the big draw for FiOS, where that is available? The number of customers TWC will lose may not cost them as much as they will save by simply not having to support usenet either via their own servers or by outsourcing. At some level, the bean counters win and the customers lose. I wonder what Calvin Coolidge would think?
Time Warner has over 7 million Usenet subscribers.
Then I guess we will see how many switch to some other ISP. I'm one of the 7 million, but I'm not going to bother switching from TWC to AT&T DSL (which is all I could get here, no FiOS, not even U-verse).

djrobx
Premium Member
join:2000-05-31
Reno, NV

djrobx

Premium Member

AT&T/SBC/Pacbell has never really had binary usenet service to speak of anyway. DSLExtreme offers good, albeit slow, binary newsgroup service.
45612019 (banned)
join:2004-02-05
New York, NY

45612019 (banned) to rcdailey

Member

to rcdailey
said by rcdailey:

said by 45612019:

said by rcdailey:

How many customers will be driven away? TWC must have an idea of how many usenet subscribers they currently have. Is usenet the big draw for FiOS, where that is available? The number of customers TWC will lose may not cost them as much as they will save by simply not having to support usenet either via their own servers or by outsourcing. At some level, the bean counters win and the customers lose. I wonder what Calvin Coolidge would think?
Time Warner has over 7 million Usenet subscribers.
Then I guess we will see how many switch to some other ISP. I'm one of the 7 million, but I'm not going to bother switching from TWC to AT&T DSL (which is all I could get here, no FiOS, not even U-verse).
Perhaps you will change your tune when Time Warner starts the next batch of anti-consumer network regression techniques in the coming months and implements their pathetic 40 GB bandwidth caps on that 7 million after taking away their Usenet access.

I know I'm in the beginning stages of examining the competition; TWC getting rid of their newsgroups is the first step in their coming downfall.

hobgoblin
Sortof Agoblin
Premium Member
join:2001-11-25
Orchard Park, NY

hobgoblin to 45612019

Premium Member

to 45612019
said by 45612019:

[Time Warner has over 7 million Usenet subscribers.
What?

I have read some inaccurate stuff on here before but that has to be one of the most ludicrous statements I have read.

Try less than 28,000 hits a day.

Hob
Baseline7
join:2001-02-26
Buffalo, NY

Baseline7 to rcdailey

Member

to rcdailey
Unfortunately I'm compelled to agree that until FIOS is in my area, I won't be switching. The DSL option isn't worth it for the speeds.

I think this is a gigantic mistake on TW's part though, since those that are using the newsgroup service will now just rely more heavily on torrents. Now instead of people using 400KB/s on newsgroups, people will be using their full cap up AND down on torrents to keep ratios.

Very stupid move. They did this to target the bandwidth users, and it's just going to cause them to use more bandwidth.

RR User
@rr.com

RR User to Endian

Anon

to Endian
Everyone knows that this is just TW's way of cutting off all its arms and legs, and trimming the fat to decrease overhead and increase profits.

I thought ISP's didn't want to be dumb pipe providers... but if they keep cutting services and start metering bandwidth... what do you call that?

Ridiculously low caps and gouging overage fees for everyone are soon to follow, and guess what? TW says they will make our internet experience even better!

It's like some kind of militant crackdown that everyone will feel at some point. If all the ISP's start doing this, I can eventually see all kinds of E-commerce going down the toilet... Are they trying to kill the internet?

GNH
I know my limitations.
Premium Member
join:1999-12-20
Canyon Lake, TX

GNH to Endian

Premium Member

to Endian
Makes sense. That's ancient. I was playing with NNTP in the late 80s. It's about time...

R.I.P.

The Vigilante to hobgoblin

Anon

to hobgoblin
These are, of course, the people who tell you that moving a channel to a tier where subscribers now require to rent a digital box is "A channel service level correction"

»www.timewarnercable.com/ ··· rts.html

GNH
I know my limitations.
Premium Member
join:1999-12-20
Canyon Lake, TX

2 edits

GNH to hobgoblin

Premium Member

to hobgoblin
said by hobgoblin:

said by 45612019:

[Time Warner has over 7 million Usenet subscribers.
What?

I have read some inaccurate stuff on here before but that has to be one of the most ludicrous statements I have read.

Try less than 28,000 hits a day.

Hob
Those in this thread that seem to be upset about it may be responsible for all 28K.

hobgoblin
Sortof Agoblin
Premium Member
join:2001-11-25
Orchard Park, NY

hobgoblin to The Vigilante

Premium Member

to The Vigilante
said by The Vigilante :

These are, of course, the people who tell you that moving a channel to a tier where subscribers now require to rent a digital box is "A channel service level correction"

»www.timewarnercable.com/ ··· rts.html
Well go to Dish then...oh wait...of course you need a digital box to get any channel. I forgot that.

Hob

rcdailey
Dragoonfly
Premium Member
join:2005-03-29
Rialto, CA

rcdailey to djrobx

Premium Member

to djrobx
said by djrobx:

AT&T/SBC/Pacbell has never really had binary usenet service to speak of anyway. DSLExtreme offers good, albeit slow, binary newsgroup service.

Yeah, but DSLExtreme isn't offering service in my area, at least not the last time I checked. I'm just a little too far east for their taste.

hobgoblin
Sortof Agoblin
Premium Member
join:2001-11-25
Orchard Park, NY

hobgoblin to GNH

Premium Member

to GNH
Of course this site attracts a handful of people that are tech savvy and think that the whole world is like them.

Newsgroups are only being used for nefarious activities anyway and that fits into this site well.

Hob
45612019 (banned)
join:2004-02-05
New York, NY

2 edits

45612019 (banned) to hobgoblin

Member

to hobgoblin
said by hobgoblin:

said by 45612019:

[Time Warner has over 7 million Usenet subscribers.
What?

I have read some inaccurate stuff on here before but that has to be one of the most ludicrous statements I have read.

Try less than 28,000 hits a day.

Hob
Every one of Time Warner Cable's Internet subscribers has access to their Usenet services. It is free for ALL of their subscribers. So yes, they do indeed have 7 million Usenet subscribers.

Edit:
said by hobgoblin:

Of course this site attracts a handful of people that are tech savvy and think that the whole world is like them.

Newsgroups are only being used for nefarious activities anyway and that fits into this site well.

Hob
That does it, you're a troll.
Baseline7
join:2001-02-26
Buffalo, NY

Baseline7 to hobgoblin

Member

to hobgoblin
said by hobgoblin:

Newsgroups are only being used for nefarious activities anyway and that fits into this site well.
You know, I've always tried to respect you for attempting to help the community with their problems.

However, you have a bad problem with constantly trying to put down anyone with the least bit of dissent for this ISP, you endlessly try to squelch debate, and now you go ahead and make a COMPLETELY ASININE AND UNINFORMED comment like that.

I'll have you know that many people, including myself, enjoy newsgroups for freely available LEGAL materials, learning materials, discussions, and many other things. Not everyone is using them for "nefarious activities".

I'd suggest you retract that statement. We all know you work for TW and used to for Adelphia. You've been talking like you're an executive with a stock majority in the company for years, and quite frankly it makes me sick every time I see your stupid little troll icon, because I know there's a good chance the post body will contain your mild trolling efforts.

hobgoblin
Sortof Agoblin
Premium Member
join:2001-11-25
Orchard Park, NY

1 recommendation

hobgoblin to 45612019

Premium Member

to 45612019
They have 7 million potential subscribers of which less than 28,000 imbibe.

The biggest groups that are hit are the alt binary groups, movies, Porn and Music. Pretty much every one of those groups have material on there that is copyrighted material.

If being a troll is stating facts I am guilty as charged. Its much easier to just exaggerate eh?

Hob

rcdailey
Dragoonfly
Premium Member
join:2005-03-29
Rialto, CA

rcdailey to 45612019

Premium Member

to 45612019
I've looked at the competition in my local area, and for broadband it's AT&T and TWC. If you have more options, go with the best of them. It's not impossible that I might switch to AT&T, but then I'd be dealing with their future caps, wouldn't I? Be prepared for one world government and one world ISP. To put it another way, you get two ballots, one green and one red. Pick your favorite color.

Oh, there's always dialup. I actually keep a dialup provider just for those times when cable is down. If I can't afford to keep cable, that's what I will have to settle for. If they stay in business, I'll still have e-mail. Then again, to keep dialup, I have to keep my landline, don't I.
rcdailey

rcdailey to 45612019

Premium Member

to 45612019
So, if you are a subscriber to TWC Internet (RoadRunner), you are also a automatically usenet subscriber even if you have not set up a usenet account via a news reader client and have not subscribed to any groups? That's a pretty loose definition of a subscriber. At least I subscribed to four groups in which I was interested (no binaries, though). I would think that to be called a usenet subscriber, you'd have to be subscribed to at least one group.
45612019 (banned)
join:2004-02-05
New York, NY

1 edit

45612019 (banned) to hobgoblin

Member

to hobgoblin
said by hobgoblin:

They have 7 million potential subscribers of which less than 28,000 imbibe.

The biggest groups that are hit are the alt binary groups, movies, Porn and Music. Pretty much every one of those groups have material on there that is copyrighted material.

If being a troll is stating facts I am guilty as charged. Its much easier to just exaggerate eh?

Hob
Perhaps you can explain to me what "movies, porn and music" have to do with child porn? Oh, that's right: Jack shit. I am also hearing from a commenter above that you work for Time Warner.

Thanks for confirming to us all that your company is indeed doing this not out of concern for child pornography, but to save yourselves some scratch and return none of the lost value to your customers in the form of a lower monthly bill, therefore upping your profits and decreasing the value of your customers' service.
said by rcdailey:

So, if you are a subscriber to TWC Internet (RoadRunner), you are also a automatically usenet subscriber even if you have not set up a usenet account via a news reader client and have not subscribed to any groups? That's a pretty loose definition of a subscriber. At least I subscribed to four groups in which I was interested (no binaries, though). I would think that to be called a usenet subscriber, you'd have to be subscribed to at least one group.
Yes, as a matter of fact. It is completely free with your service. You do not even have to set up an account or subscribe to any groups.

If you want to use this service that Time Warner Cable has been providing you with the ability to access, and that you will continue to be able to access until June 23 apparently, all you must do is direct your news client to connect to 66.250.146.128 or one of the news-server.[yourlocalclusterhere].rr.com addresses.

Saying that just because you don't use it you're not subscribed to it would be the same as saying just because you never open your Internet browser you're not subscribed to that Internet connection you're paying for.

You may be subscribed to it but you might not know it. Now you do.

Have fun with the two weeks left on your Usenet subscription, if you so desire.