On Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:55:52 -0700 (PDT), Ricky wrote in
:

You obviously don't know much about Usenet as you can't shut a group
down.

Let's distinguish, if we may.

The kind of group that is easiest to remove is a moderated
group that has been abandoned by the moderator, actively
(asking that the group be closed) or passively (disappearing
from the scene). Rmgroup control messages have been sent asking
news administrators to remove such group and some administrators
have agreed to do so.

Some unmoderated groups have been removed from the big-8
(a collection of 8 hierarchies, of which rec is a part),
most notably some unmoderated binary groups.

In the past, when there were relatively frequent reorganizations
of parts of the hierarchy, many unmoderated groups were removed
and replaced by other groups.

So, technically, there is a method for closing Usenet
groups.

http://www.big-8.org/dokuwiki/doku.p...licies:rmgroup

On the practical level, the likelihood of a motion to close
r.a.p being passed by the Big-8 Management Board is "not
much different from zero." The kind of traffic found here
is just like that found in hundreds, if not thousands of
other groups. The signal-to-noise ratio varies. Nowadays,
many people leave Usenet and take their discussions elsewhere.
Closing groups like r.a.p does not seem to me to be the
right approach to take in the face of these difficulties.
Some still enjoy this kind of interaction; others do not.
That's life.

Marty

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