I expect a reduction in my subscription payment since I will no longer be getting what I had previously been paying for. I think that’s only fair. The last time they tried to soak me for a charge I thought they should be eating I threatened to leave Verizon. That got their attention in a hurry. Have to see how it plays out this time. This is way out of bounds that some NY politician is dictating what can be seen on the net. Don’t forget Verizon also bent over for the feds a little while ago. What can go wrong next? That’s worse than Google and Yahoo censoring info for China.

Gary, unfortunately I am not sure that it will happen. You and I know that a reduction of service should cause a reduction of billing, but as a friend is fond of saying ‘Wish in one hand…”

The problem we have is that I don’t think the number of groups the server carries is wriiten down, or guaranteed anywhere.

The only action we have is complaint or change of service. I am now more than willing to change service, because Verizon having a quality newsserver was the tipping point in their favor - without it, cable offers faster service, and although the cable has been dropped, FiOS availability is still uncertain in the near future. Beyond that, why would I reward Verizon with more of my money by going to FiOS?

Thanks for the comment - tell others that have Verizon.

I personally think this will hurt Verizon. The groups they offer are a big joke. Oracle, post the letter so we can all print it, somewhat modify it and mail it out. I most likely will switch back to Cox Communications.

thanks

I just found out tonight when trying to connect to some binary groups. from http://netservices.verizon.net/portal/link/help/item&objId=43459, they’re supposed to discontinue on 6/30 but they can’t wait. It’s discontinued today on 6/24. Can we gather multple signatures to complain to them.

pctechician, cpliu - I will post a letter soon.

A note was sent in my e-mail on the 17th, indicating that this would happen on the 24th - but 1] it is customary to give 30 days notice upon change of service 2] I was very angered that I read of this a day before in Ars Technica - why release to the press before telling your subscriber base? and 3] it is stupid and will accomplish nothing that it sets out to do - except for the noted easing of the load on the Verizon servers

- and BTW, don’t try complaining to tech support or anyone else by phone - their answers are ‘it is what we are told to read to you’…that is, after they understand what you are talking about, the level of ignorance at Verizon tech support is truly astounding - you have to usually get to level 3 support before you get anything done if you have a connection problem that is not self-inflicted.

BTW, thanks to all for the comments - this will certainly be an uphill battle, as the damage is already done on Verizon servers, but if you look at my story from the day of this comment, you will see that the Guvernator is trying to wipe out Usenet alt* groups for all who are in this state.

As I stated in that article - Usenet groups are not the crux of this - we are talking about loss of freedom here, and don’t let anyone else do your thinking for you - figure that out for yourself.

I am confused on Verizon’s actions. When I first signed up for their internet service, their newsgroups policy specifically listed newsgroups that they wouldn’t carry; namely, those geared at underage groups. If child pornography had leaked into other groups, then those groups easily could’ve been discontinued. (I tried adding an alt.? newsgroup once; my request was denied.)

Personally, my guess is it’s Verizon’s way of discontinuing the binaries groups, as they are heavily trafficked. Discontinuing the “unneeded” alt’s and others is a way to further cut bandwidth, while still claiming they have newsgroup access.

I do like the idea of lower cost… but, “Ha!” Verizon’s become a nickel-and-diming company, squeezing whatever they can wherever they can… repeated policies toward their own consumers and toward the government demonstrate this.

I am a Verizon customer, and I am appalled by their decision to basically pull the plug on their news server. (Oh, now they’re offering the “Big-8″? Ummm.. riiighhht..). But I’m even more disappointed with the way they handled this. Any intelligent person can see that Verizon is transparent and that they are trying to protecting their bottom line rather than protecting the children. Blatant dishonesty, especially from a huge company like Verizon, who is supposedly setting examples for other companies, REALLY bothers me.

We’ve got a real problem in this country with lobbyists and political strong-arming, too, and that’s not all Verizon’s fault, I do realize. But they could have taken a stand against it. Shame, shame.

I urge others who feel as strongly as I do about Verizon’s move to vote with your wallet. I’ll be dropping them as soon as my contract ends.

Karl, you’re right, as I stated it was a smokescreen, but more than that, the given reason has no hopes of doing what is claimed. That is why it is so stupid that the Guvernator is trying to get ISPs in California to do the same thing.

Before dropping them, why not use the address I gave to send a letter? If they get enough, with no threats, but promises of discontinuing service, they will take notice - it will take a concerted effort, but it can be done.

So if i use a newsgroup like news.mi.ras.ru does that make me in violation of Verizon TOS?

jon, it would not seem so from the prefix (news) - the sure way to find out is if it can be added to your news program.

The Big Waste - oh, I mean Big 8, appears to have no groups for binaries - this means not only does this stop anything illegal, it stops all legal stuff - such as freeware and open source. Now how are many people going to distribute these things? Bit torrent of course! And from what some ‘experts’ are saying, this will be worse for overall traffic on the net as it is moving so much information to so many places concurrently. I see this as Verizon’s latest in a long line of stupid decisions.

[...] week ago we read about the Attorney General of New York using subtle threats against Verizon and others who [...]

I have alread swithced my cell service to cingular, and dropped my extra voice line in exchange for a vonage line. If
i dont get a discount after sending Veerizon a letter, I will also be dropping my fios.

I found the microsoft.* groups very useful and convenient to use. While Microsoft offers access through their web site, I prefered using a news reader. What a joke ….

cdonner, vote with your wallet, and tell all you see - Verizon counts on no one acting upon their decision, and a concerted effort on our part would really make a difference.

Of course this is yet another chintzy move by Verizon to cut costs by cutting service. They are one of the sleaziest companies I know of. They still have yet to refund my deposit for cell phone service - more than a year after I cancelled their service. Calling customer service is an exercise in frustration and futility, since they outsourced their C/S to India, and you’re speaking to somebody whose first language isn’t English. The last time I called to make a ONE TIME payment (and repeatedly told them it was a ONE TIME PAYMENT), they are still billing that card, and sometimes double-billing. Thankfully, the county I live in is installing a county-wide wireless system, which is supposed to be in place soon. There will be several resellers selling the access, which should make for some competitive pricing and services. As soon as I can, I am giving Verizon the big heave-ho!

It’s “hajji”, actually. Oh, and to the last responder, “chincy”, unless you’re talking about fabric.