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Raistlin · 23-10-2009, 15:44

Ok, so.....we know that people occasionally use the torrent system to download naughty things (these people are in the minority obviously, because everybody I ask only downloads Linux distributions.....). I have no experience of Newsgroups, but I would imagine (by extension of the principle, and factoring in human nature) that similar nefarious activities occur within the newsgroup user community.

There are sections of the 'Establishment', and also some commercial organisations, that seek to stamp out these naughty file downloading practices and who (if we are to believe the popular press) have tracked individuals down through their association with the torrent sites, or through their ISP giving information about their browsing habits.

So.....the question.....and there's no pretext/motive behind it other than that I would like to know the answer.....

Are there any mechanisms present in the newsgroup system of uploading/downloading that would protect the identities of these nefarious (and undoubtedly very naughty people) that are not present in the torrent system? How easy is it to track who's downloaded what from a given server for example? How difficult would it be for your ISP to find out what you'd been downloading? If 'the man' got his hands on a naughty file sharing newsgroup server would he be able to trace these undesireables easily? Do the newsgroup server owners know who these naughty people are?

23-10-2009, 15:44	#1
Raistlin Inactive Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: There's no place like 127.0.0.1 Services: Depends on the person and the price they're offering Posts: 12,384	Newsgroup Activity Tracking Ok, so.....we know that people occasionally use the torrent system to download naughty things (these people are in the minority obviously, because everybody I ask only downloads Linux distributions.....). I have no experience of Newsgroups, but I would imagine (by extension of the principle, and factoring in human nature) that similar nefarious activities occur within the newsgroup user community. There are sections of the 'Establishment', and also some commercial organisations, that seek to stamp out these naughty file downloading practices and who (if we are to believe the popular press) have tracked individuals down through their association with the torrent sites, or through their ISP giving information about their browsing habits. So.....the question.....and there's no pretext/motive behind it other than that I would like to know the answer..... Are there any mechanisms present in the newsgroup system of uploading/downloading that would protect the identities of these nefarious (and undoubtedly very naughty people) that are not present in the torrent system? How easy is it to track who's downloaded what from a given server for example? How difficult would it be for your ISP to find out what you'd been downloading? If 'the man' got his hands on a naughty file sharing newsgroup server would he be able to trace these undesireables easily? Do the newsgroup server owners know who these naughty people are?