Newsgroups: news.software.b
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Why do I get junk newsgroups?
Message-ID: <1991Feb21.171630.10353@zoo.toronto.edu>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <20752@teda.UUCP> <M_-&W`^@rpi.edu> <1991Feb21.051023.8661@johnny5.uucp>
Date: Thu, 21 Feb 1991 17:16:30 GMT

In article <1991Feb21.051023.8661@johnny5.uucp> garvey@johnny5.uucp (Joe Garvey) writes:
>Since almost all mail passes thru the major sites, why not have the sites
>filter "junk groups". In those cases where the newsgroup header is wrong
>(comp.sys.ibm.pc), the header could simply be modified, and that article
>propigated correctly...

Three problems:

(1) The flow of news is not nearly so simple as you seem to think; articles
	can get a long way out into the net without ever passing through a
	"major site".

(2) Header rewriting is a sin, because it's very difficult to be *sure*
	that you are doing it right.

(3) Automatic maintenance of the rewrite-control file is full of security
	problems, and manual maintenance is sufficient hassle that few
	people want to do it.
-- 
"Read the OSI protocol specifications?  | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
I can't even *lift* them!"              |  henry@zoo.toronto.edu  utzoo!henry
