Usenet

WHAT USENET IS

1. Usenet is a world-wide distributed discussion system. It consists of a set of "newsgroups" with names that are classified hierarchically by subject. "Articles" or "messages" are "posted" to these newsgroups by people on computers with the appropriate software -- these articles are then broadcast to other interconnected computer systems via a wide variety of networks. Some newsgroups are "moderated"; in these newsgroups, the articles are first sent to a moderator for approval before appearing in the newsgroup.
2. Usenet is available on a wide variety of computer systems and networks, but the bulk of modern Usenet traffic is transported over the Internet or UUCP.
3. Usenet is the set of people who exchange articles tagged with one or more universally-recognized labels, called "newsgroups" (or "groups" for short). Each Usenet site makes it's own decisions about the set of groups availabe to its users; this set differs from site to site.

WHAT USENET IS NOT

1. Usenet is not an organization.
• No person or group has authority over Usenet as a whole. No one controls who gets a news feed, which articles are propagated where, who can post articles, or anything else. There is no "Usenet incorporated," nor is there a "Usenet User's Group." You're on your own.
• Usenet is not the Internet. The Internet is a wide-ranging network, parts of which are subsidized by various governments. It carries many kings of traffic, of which Usenet is only one. And the Internet is only one of the various networks carrying Usenet traffic