AOL drops file-sharers' hangout

Even though it's one of the oldest parts of the Internet, Usenet is probably one of the parts that our kids know a lot more about than we do. At least the file-sharing ones. Usenet newsgroups (or discussion groups), according to ZDNET, are where people who like to swap free, usually bootlegged, software files (such as games) in particular go to find it. It's also where they can very easily pick up viruses, ZDNET reports, and where people have always been able to find pornography. But there's plenty of perfectly legitimate, well-meaning, sometimes weird commentary and info there too, from alt.antiques to alt.yoga. Usenet, however, reportedly has become increasingly seedy, and this week's news about it is that America Online is dropping it. By sometime next month, Usenet will no longer be accessible to its members. "It's unclear why AOL is pulling the plug on Usenet but, frankly, the neighborhood just isn't that desirable to companies that want to seem wholesome and family-friendly," writes ZDNET's Molly Brown. The Register cites an AOL spokesman saying the service was dropped because so few subscribers used it. File-sharers no doubt already have a work-around. Many Internet service providers provide access to Usenet, and "AOL users can read newsgroups over the Web using Google Groups," according to eWeek's article on this, citing a pop-up message from AOL to its subscribers about this development.