FITUG e.V.
Förderverein Informationstechnik und Gesellschaft
FITUG e.V.Förderverein Informationstechnik und Gesellschaft |
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http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-1555559.html
MSN drops newsgroup support
By Jim Hu
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
February 23, 2000, 4:00 a.m. PT
Microsoft's MSN Internet site is dumping support for newsgroup discussions, the latest sign that the pioneering online chat format is being bypassed by the commercial Web.
An MSN representative said the site is replacing newsgroup discussions, which are currently hosted on the open-ended Usenet network, with other options available on the site. She said the move was sparked by convenience.
"We are removing newsgroups from MSN servers because we now have a better communication vehicle provided by MSN Web Communities-- including chat, message boards, email and Web pages," the representative wrote in an email. While newsgroups will no longer be supported on MSN.com, they will still be available at the company's corporate Web site, Microsoft.com.
Marked by freewheeling and often rudely frank discussions on hundreds of specialized topics, newsgroups early on came to embody the Internet's ideal of free and open communication. But with the emergence of the Web and commercial sites, newsgroups have been steadily pushed to the noncommercial fringes.
"Newsgroups are unruly and message boards are easier to convert into a business," said Anya Sacharow, an analyst at Jupiter Communications.
Turning newsgroup chat into e-commerce gold has proven elusive, as companies such as Deja.com and Talkway discovered. Like Microsoft, both turned away from newsgroups after failed attempts to tap them for revenue.
"One of the charms of Usenet is that it's so completely decentralized," said David Ritz, a Usenet advocate. "(Microsoft's) operation is into control. This cannot be accomplished in Usenet."
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