* From the
moderated newsgroup alt.humor.best-of-usenet:
Misc.taxes.moderated (MTM) is a moderated newsgroup. It exists for the discussion of taxes, including, but not limited to, proposed and existing tax laws, regulations, procedures and current developments.
With moderated newsgroups, readers can submit questions or responses to the newsgroup.
As a
moderated newsgroup, it's a partial exception to the generally anarchic Usenet.
Take a look at some of the
moderated newsgroups and mailing lists that deal with security and cryptography, and you'll see a flood of messages about arcane vulnerabilities.
(Figure 2 shows the distribution of ratings for the most widely rated technical, recreational, and
moderated newsgroups from the trial.) Because of the high volume of news, the value of correct rejections is high (in many groups it is infeasible to read the entire group).
According to a study by the Computer Intelligence InfoCorp., weekly Internet connection time ranges from an average of two hours for consumer users to three hours for workplace users, with the most frequent use being for e-mail.(4) In fact, electronic bulletin boards (BBSs),
moderated newsgroups, and mailing lists have been among the most popular Internet uses for more than a decade, with more than 14,000 groups now available on the Usenet and thousands others through automated host computer systems equipped with listserv software.(5) These groups facilitate the creation of communities of individuals who are brought together by sometimes narrowly defined interests.
In some
moderated newsgroups or discussion groups, the moderator will filter out promotional messages.
While some of the more carefully
moderated newsgroups are providing serious international educational and cultural benefits, other newsgroups act as sandboxes for newsgroupies.