Rogers kills Usenet access
p2p news / p2pnet: “The Globe and Mail and Toronto Star notice something we reported earlier this month,” says BroadBand Reports.
“Roger Cable’s decision to discontinue Usenet access for their broadband customers, who have begun receiving notices with their November bills. According to Rogers, less than 3% (30,000) of their customers made use of Usenet.”
What to do?
“Lots of people have ranted and anti-ranted (strange how the anti-rants look just like rants) and now nobody is bringing anything new to the table and there’s no way that ranting in here is going to achieve anything apart from antagonize anyone with opinions that vary from that of another poster,” says sbrook.
“SO … Here’s what you *CAN* do …” >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
1) Quit Rogers … if you do, make sure that you do item #2 or else the reason for your departure is going to get lost in customer service.
2) Write to “The Office of the President” … see the sticky note “How to Complain” »How to Complain to Rogers whether you are simply going to complain or explain the reason for your quitting. (When you write, DO NOT RANT. You have a few seconds to stop your complaint from finding the garbage can and get some actual attention) Be concise and Direct.
3) Write to “The Ontario Ministry of Consumer and Business Services” or use their online form at »www.cbs.gov.on.ca/compform/english/com..
4) Write to the Federal Department of Industry (the overseer of the CRTC who are currently NOT responsible for ISPs) and indicate that the LACK of regulation allows the residential ISPs to run rough shod over the consumer all under the terms of their end user agreements.
5) Write to the Media … Tyler Hamilton at the Toronto Star, Jack Kapica at the Globe and Mail, and the technology editors of your local papers. Try also the consumer programs on TV and in your papers. Again, it is a good idea to point out not just the current issues, but also the fact that the lack of regulation allows ISPs to run rough shod over the consumer.
Those are things every one of us can do that may be productive in the end in some manner.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
But, “It’s no use sbrook,” says LaZ3R. “Rogers doesn’t give a crap about us. Except our money off course to fund their piece of crap services which include… EVERYTHING?
9.99999999999999999/10 times, writing a letter to someone ends up in the garbage like you said whether it is indeed a rant or not. Unless it’s a “I LOVE YOUR SERVICE AND EVERYONE WHO WORKS OVER AT YOUR COOL PLACE,” They really don’t care I guess.
Charge us extra money each time around whether it be $2 extra per month or more, and what do we get in return? Oh, that’s right, the reduction of services available (Usenet being the latest) and offer unreliable speeds more than half the time.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
“Maybe not,” sbrook responds, “but that’s why I gave a LIST of things you can do. They may not solve the immediate problems … but after so many things Rogers have done under the guise of improving our internet experience, it’s time the regulators gave consumers some protection.”
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See:-
BroadBand Reports – Rogers Kills Usenet, November 18, 2005
November 18th, 2005 at 8:07 pm
The regulators are foxes guarding the henhouse. They are clearly in the pockets of the Internet Infrastructure Cartels. Go ahead and complain. It might do some good eventually, and if you have an alternative ISP that is not more oppressive than Rogers, switch to that company. However, in order to really get their attention, set up FreeWan Cells or muni-networks. If enough people do this, the big guys will be forced to leave the Net alone.
November 19th, 2005 at 1:39 am
Just switch to Bell Sympatico, far superior service, excellent usenet with OE6, with posting + replying right from OE6.
November 19th, 2005 at 9:48 pm
I have been predicting for years that most major ISPs would get rid of binary usenet groups. However, it is surprising that Rogers would kill all Usenet access.
The binary Usenet has such a huge potential liability for ISPs because of the risky content, primarily child porn and illegal file sharing. Under Canadian law, possession of child porn is sufficient for a conviction. It is guaranteed that right now, and at all times, there are child porn images and/or video in some binary Usenet group, which may be hosted by an ISP. That means that the file is stored on the ISP’s computers and that they are in a position to be convicted of possession of child porn.
Another downside for ISPs is the costs associated with binary Usenet traffic and storage. While less than 3% (30,000) of their (Roger’s) customers made use of Usenet, it likely constitutes up to 25% of the total network traffic.
In the end, if Rogers was to have killed on binary Usenet, the loss to consumers wouldnt’ve been consequential because Google Groups now not only archives Usenet but allows posting to them through a web interface.
Frankly, I predict that all major North American ISPs will follow suit and eliminate access to, at a minimum binary Usenet, if not all of the Usenet to their customers.
The big issue then becomes, is this a reduction of service and what constitutes a fair payment for the reduced service.
CanadianAlien.com
The binary Usenet tutorial
November 30th, 2005 at 3:17 am
I use Rogers lite high speed and I didn’t see any notification on my November bill about them stopping Usenet, unless I missed it, but I knew about it from a forum. I think Rogers just say that only 30,000 customers use Usenet. I suspect its probably a much higher figure, but they say 30,000 to justify their discontinuing Usenet and save money by allocating the news servers to mail servers. On top of losing Usenet and most of us having to pay for some other news reader, Rogers increased my Internet bill by $5.00 this month adding insult to injury. Whether it does any good or not, I am going to write to them with my complaint about stopping Usenet. I’ve used it for many years and have a lot of friends on newsgroups.
I feel I pay enough money monthly to Rogers, without having to pay for a separate for a newsreader provider. Bell still has Usenet, or will they follow Rogers lead? I would change to Bell if they were in my area for high speed. So I am prettty well stuck with Rogers for high speed Internet. All Rogers customers should complain to whoever will listen to stop Rogers from taking advantage of customers who they know are helpless against their policies. They are just greedy. What else is new?
November 30th, 2005 at 3:22 am
Thats fine if you can get Bell high speed in your area. I live in SCarborough, but its not in my area. So my only choice is Rogers broadband or go back to dialup with Sympatico. I can see that Rogers could have taken out some of the newsgroups which attract pornography and others groups that might attract the wrong crowd, but not the whole of Usenet. Seems like a bad move to me. I am wondering if Bell might follow suit.
December 3rd, 2005 at 3:45 am
You didn’t see anything because this “story” is B.S.
December 18th, 2005 at 4:23 am
NNTP definitely dead now! I can’t access on my newservers now. Screw Ted!
June 11th, 2008 at 11:32 am
With all the recent news on what TM is doing, its no wonder why so many are jumping ship. For me, what kept me on were the LEGITIMATE newsgroups access they had to offer. With that gone now, my motivation to stay is non-existent. Luckily, I found another usenet provider, newsdemon.com that lets me access the newsgroups. Now I just have to find a new reputable ISP.
D. Linus