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Current Summary of All Purposely Free General Use Public nntp USENET newsservers

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Tony Palermo

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Jan 5, 2013, 10:18:59 AM1/5/13
to
Having personally tested the following newsservers, what additional information
can the experts on a.f.n provide to improve this current summary of all known
purposely free general use public NNTP USENET newsservers?

1. Albasani.net
a. site=http://albasani.net/index.html.en
b. register=news AT albasani.net
c. port=reader.albasani.net:119
d. uname/passwd format=f...@bar.com/M4jG-2Bf
e. ip opfuscation=dynamic via multiple headers
f. misc=?
g. contact=?

2. News4all.se
a. site=http://www.usenet4all.se
b. register=registration AT usenet4all.se
c. port=reader.news4all.se:119 reader.usenet4all.se:119
d. uname/passwd format=f...@bar.com/FlwiLbam
e. ip obfuscation=dynamic in the "X-Trace" header
f. misc= slow for post to appear & unreliable in my tests
g. contact=support AT usenet4all.se

3. Aioe.org
a. site=http://www.aioe.org
b. register=none required
c. port=aioe.org:119 563 443
d. uname/passwd=blank/blank
e. ip obfuscation=static via the "NNTP-Posting-Host" header
f. misc=3 crossposts, 25/day, very reliable
g. contact=?

4. Eternal September (Warning: IP address not always kept confidential)
a. site=http://www.eternal-september.org
b. register=http://eternal-september.org/RegisterNewsAccount.php
c. port=news.eternal-september.org:119,563
reader443.eternal-september.org:443
d. uname/passwd format=UName/marMeqivc (NOT your email address!)
e. ip obfuscation=static via the "Injection-Info" "posting-host" header
f. misc=user can easily change their passwd at the web site
g. contact=news AT eternal-september.org

5. Sunsite.dk (Warning: Always hands out IP address in the clear!)
a. site=http://dotsrc.org/usenet/
b. register=news-signup AT sunsite.dk
c. port=news.sunsite.dk:119
d. uname/passwd format=f...@bar.com/m5ro1b
e. ip obfuscation=none (WARNING: IP displayed as cleartext!)
f. misc=registration is removed when unused for 90 days
g. contact=news AT sunsite.dk

6. Mixmin (I gave up trying to get this to work)
a. site=http://www.banana.mixmin.net/m2n.html
b. register=none
c. port=news.mixmin.net 563 SSL/TLS (requires stunnel ssl tunnel setup)
d. uname/passwd=blank/blank
e. ip obfuscation=static? dynamic? none?
f. misc=mail2news_nospam-yyy...@m2n.mixmin.net
g. contact=?

7. Google (Warning: IP & valid email address published in the clear!)
a. Site=groups.google.com
b. Register=https://accounts.google.com
c. nntp=port 80 (i.e., has no nntp port)
d. uname/passwd format=f...@gmail.com/aBcDeFgH
e. ip obfuscation=none! ("Injection-Info" & NNTP-Posting-Host)
f. Misc=google domain is often blocked by newsreader killfiles
g. Contact=none

8. ? What purposely free public newsuservers are we missing ?

DEFINITIONS:
Note 1: Free, here, means no money is required, no matter how it is defined.
Note 2: Public, here, means the newserver is open to the public at large.
Note 3: General use, here, means posting to many text newsgroups is supported.
Note 3: Static, here, means all posts & nyms have the same IP obfuscation.
Note 4: Dynamic, here, means each post or nym has a different obfuscation.

Message has been deleted

tb

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Jan 5, 2013, 6:29:43 PM1/5/13
to
On 01/05/2013 09:18 AM, Tony Palermo wrote:
>
> 8. ? What purposely free public newsuservers are we missing ?
>

news.solani.org
free.xsusenet.com
freenews.netfront.net

I don't know if these meet your definitions No. 3 and 4, though. I am
not an expert.
--
tb

Tony Palermo

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Jan 5, 2013, 8:17:22 PM1/5/13
to
On Sat, 05 Jan 2013 17:29:43 -0600, tb wrote:

> news.solani.org
> free.xsusenet.com
> freenews.netfront.net
>
> I don't know if these meet your definitions

Thanks for the three additions.
I'll check each of them out & report back.
The results will benefit everyone.


For clarification, the definitions are thus:
- Free, here, means no money is required, no matter how it is defined.
- Public, here, means the newserver is purposefully open to the public.
- General use, here, means posting to many text newsgroups is supported.
- Static, here, means all posts & nyms have the same IP obfuscation.
- Dynamic, here, means each post or nym has a different obfuscation.

Jeff-Relf.Me

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Jan 5, 2013, 9:50:14 PM1/5/13
to
 
Warning, anyone using the afore mentioned "free" news servers will
be clearly pegged as a "free tard" who can't afford decent service.
And that goes double for Google Groups users.

The admins who run these servers are so deluded they think they 
can "tame the beast" ( i.e. censor Usenet ).

Many have tried, none have succeeded.  Usenet is NOT WikiPedia.

Tony Palermo

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Jan 6, 2013, 1:03:56 AM1/6/13
to
On Sat, 05 Jan 2013 17:29:43 -0600, tb wrote:

> news.solani.org
> free.xsusenet.com
> freenews.netfront.net

Very nice find.

Two out of those three worked perfectly the first time.
I'm still having trouble getting the xs usenet one to post.

news.solani.org 119
It was easy to register as they sent back a login/password immediately
and the posting worked the first time. The IP address was obfuscated
so that's a requirement. I'm not sure if it's static or dynamic
obfuscation yet.

freenews.netfront.net 119
There is no registration. A test post using a blank username and
a blank password worked the first time. The IP address is revealed in
the clear, so that's really bad - but otherwise, it's a nice server.

free.xsusenet.com 119
It was easy to register as they sent back a login/password immediately,
but the posting failed using that login/password. I was able to log into
their web site using that login/password - so I wonder if the "free"
service allows posting (despite what they say to the contrary).

Here is how I tried to test the posting ability using telnet:

$ telnet free.xsusenet.com 119
> Trying 91.235.168.44...
> Connected to free.xsusenet.com.
> Escape character is '^]'.
> 200 Welcome to XSusenet NNTPSwitch-SVN-797, 96424 groups available,
> posting allowed, slot 165, connections 1
POST
> 480 Authentication Required
AUTHINFO USER foo
> 381 More Authentication Required
AUTHINFO PASS bar
> 281 Authentication Accepted, 0 bytes remaining, posting is not allowed
POST
> 440 Posting Denied
quit
> 205 Exit articles 0, bytes 0, groups 0, posts 0, postbytes 0
> Connection closed by foreign host.
$



Tony Palermo

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Jan 6, 2013, 8:38:13 AM1/6/13
to
I tested & added all the suggested servers; here are my results.

Here are all the known purposefully public, free, general use, nntp
USENET newsservers on the net (only 8 out of 10 could I get to post).

Please update the missing information as I am no expert (you are!).
I'm just trying to figure out what is available today.

1. Aioe
a. site=http://www.aioe.org
b. register=none required
c. server:port=aioe.org:119 563 443
d. authentication=none (i.e., blank username & password)
e. ip obfuscation=static via the "NNTP-Posting-Host" header
f. email obfuscation=allowed
g. contact=http://www.aioe.org/index.php?contacts
h. misc=3 crossposts, 25/day, very reliable, very fast
i. location=italy

2. Albasani
a. site=http://albasani.net/index.html.en
b. register=news at albasani.net, http://albasani.net/user/contact.cgi
c. server:port=reader.albasani.net:119
d. authentication=your-registered-email-address + password
e. ip opfuscation=dynamic via multiple headers
f. email obfuscation=allowed
g. contact=Roman Racine roman dot racine at gmail dot com
h. misc=Alexander Bartolich passed away at 39, in July 2012
i. location=italy

3. Solani
a. site=http://news.solani.org
a. register=http://news.solani.org/register
c. server:port=news.solani.org:119 563
d. authentication=your-registered-username + password
e. ip obfuscation=dynamic via X-Trace & X-NNTP-Posting-Host
e. user obfuscation=dynamic via X-Trace & X-User-ID
f. email obfuscation=allowed only via f...@is.invalid domain
g. contact=http://news.solani.org/contact
h. misc=can change password, account deleted if unused for 60 days
i. location=deutschland

4. News4all
a. site=http://www.usenet4all.se
b. register=registration AT usenet4all DOT se
c. server:port=reader.news4all.se:119 reader.usenet4all.se:119
d. authentication=your-registered-email-address + password
e. ip obfuscation=dynamic in the "X-Trace" header
f. email obfuscation=allowed
g. contact=support AT usenet4all.se
h. misc= slow for post to appear & unreliable in my tests
i. location=?

5. Eternal September (Warning: IP address not always kept confidential)
c. server:port=news.eternal-september.org:119,563
c. server:port=reader443.eternal-september.org:443
d. authentication=your-registered-username + password
e. ip obfuscation=static via the "Injection-Info" "posting-host" header
f. email obfuscation=allowed
g. contact=news AT eternal-september.org
h. misc=user can easily change their passwd at the web site
i. location=?

6. Sunsite (Warning: Always hands out IP address in the clear!)
a. site=http://dotsrc.org/usenet/
b. register=news-signup AT sunsite DOT dk
c. server:port=news.sunsite.dk:119
d. authentication=your-registered-email-address + password
e. ip obfuscation=none (WARNING: IP displayed as cleartext!)
f. email obfuscation=allowed
g. contact=news AT sunsite.dk
h. misc=registration is removed when unused for 90 days
i. location=?

7. XS usenet (I couldn't get this to post even with a login/password)
a. site=http://xsusenet.com/faq.html
a. register=press "subscribe now" at http://xsusenet.com
c. server:port=free.xsusenet.com:119
d. authentication=your-registered-username + password
e. ip obfuscation=?
f. email obfuscation=?
g. contact=info at xsusenet dot com, support at xsusenet dot com
h. misc=may be limited to 1Mbit/sec speed, 25GB/month data limit
i. location=netherlands

8. Netfront (WARNING: IP address posted in the clear!)
a. site=? (I couldn't find it.)
a. register=no registration required
c. server:port=freenews.netfront.net:119
d. authentication=none (i.e., blank username & password)
e. ip obfuscation=none, WARNING: NNTP-POSTING-HOST reveals IP address!
f. email obfuscation=allowed
g. contact=?
h. misc=?
i. location=?

9. Mixmin (I gave up trying to get this to work so others must fix below)
a. site=http://www.banana.mixmin.net/m2n.html
b. register=none
c. server:port=news.mixmin.net 563 SSL/TLS (requires stunnel setup)
d. authentication=none (i.e., blank username & password)
e. ip obfuscation=static? dynamic? none?
f. email obfuscation=allowed
g. contact=?
h. misc=mail2news_nospam-yyy...@m2n.mixmin.net
i. location=?

10. Google (Warning: Both IP & valid email address betrayed)
c. server:port=Google has no nntp port, so really doesn't belong here
d. authentication=your-registered-email-address + password
e. ip obfuscation=none! ("Injection-Info" & NNTP-Posting-Host)
f. email obfuscation=none!
g. Contact=none
h. Misc=technically google doesn't belong on this list
i. location=usa

Q: Any other purposely free public general use nntp usenet news servers?

Notes:
- Free, here, means no money is required, no matter how it is defined.
- Public, here, means it is always purposefully open to posting.
- General use, here, means posting to many text newsgroups is supported.
- Static, here, means all posts & nyms have the same IP obfuscation.
- Dynamic, here, means each post or nym has a different obfuscation.

Message has been deleted

TOSEM

unread,
Jan 6, 2013, 8:20:05 PM1/6/13
to
sn...@spambin.fsnet.co.uk (Sn!pe) on bent knee, implored:
>Tony Palermo <to...@yahooemail.com> wrote:
>
>> I tested & added all the suggested servers; here are my results.
>
>[...]
>
>May the gods help Usenet, Paul G Derbyshire.

i thought the work so diabolically cunning as to not be
worth a cracker. do note the sleight on two excellent
servers, such comment built with the singular purpose
of Troll.
Paul/a just cannot reign in his fixation with rejection.


--

TOSEM

TOSEM

unread,
Jan 6, 2013, 8:21:06 PM1/6/13
to
sn...@spambin.fsnet.co.uk (Sn!pe) erased and mused with:
[supplementary edits added]
>Tony Palermo <to...@yahooemail.com> wrote:
>
>> [nothing reliable] [soundly based deletion]
>
>Sock!

some particular eJ00Ts just do not attract explanations :)


--

TOSEM

Tony Palermo

unread,
Jan 8, 2013, 3:01:54 AM1/8/13
to
On Sat, 05 Jan 2013 17:29:43 -0600, tb wrote:

> news.solani.org
> freenews.netfront.net
> free.xsusenet.com

UPDATE:
After testing (with the help of Noahbuddy), I was able to
add two of the three suggestions above to the latest list
of the 9 purposefully free public nntp newsservers.

1. Solani
a. site=http://news.solani.org
a. register=http://news.solani.org/register
c. server:port=news.solani.org:119 563
d. authentication=your-registered-username + password
e. ip obfuscation=dynamic via X-Trace & X-NNTP-Posting-Host
e. user obfuscation=dynamic via X-Trace & X-User-ID
f. email obfuscation=allowed only via f...@is.invalid domain
g. contact=http://news.solani.org/contact
h. misc=can change password, account deleted if unused for 60 days
i. location=deutschland

2. Netfront
a. site=?
a. register=no registration required
c. server:port=freenews.netfront.net:119
d. authentication=none (i.e., blank username & password)
e. ip obfuscation=none, WARNING: NNTP-POSTING-HOST reveals IP address!
f. email obfuscation=allowed
g. contact=?
h. misc=?
i. location=?

3. Albasani
a. site=http://albasani.net/index.html.en
b. register=news at albasani.net, http://albasani.net/user/contact.cgi
c. server:port=reader.albasani.net:119
d. authentication=your-registered-email-address + password
e. ip opfuscation=dynamic via multiple headers
f. email obfuscation=allowed
g. contact=Roman Racine roman dot racine at gmail dot com
h. misc=Alexander Bartolich passed away at 39, in July 2012
i. location=italy

4. News4all
a. site=http://www.usenet4all.se
b. register=registration AT usenet4all DOT se
c. server:port=reader.news4all.se:119 reader.usenet4all.se:119
d. authentication=your-registered-email-address + password
e. ip obfuscation=dynamic in the "X-Trace" header
f. email obfuscation=allowed
g. contact=support AT usenet4all.se
h. misc=?
i. location=?

5. Eternal September
c. server:port=news.eternal-september.org:119,563
c. server:port=reader443.eternal-september.org:443
d. authentication=your-registered-username + password
e. ip obfuscation=static via the "Injection-Info" "posting-host" header
f. email obfuscation=allowed
g. contact=news AT eternal-september.org
h. misc=user can easily change their passwd at the web site
i. location=?

6. Sunsite
a. site=http://dotsrc.org/usenet/
b. register=news-signup AT sunsite DOT dk
c. server:port=news.sunsite.dk:119
d. authentication=your-registered-email-address + password
e. ip obfuscation=none (WARNING: IP displayed as cleartext!)
f. email obfuscation=allowed
g. contact=news AT sunsite.dk
h. misc=registration is removed when unused for 90 days
i. location=?

7. Aioe
a. site=http://www.aioe.org
b. register=none required
c. server:port=aioe.org:119 563 443
d. authentication=none (i.e., blank username & password)
e. ip obfuscation=static via the "NNTP-Posting-Host" header
f. email obfuscation=allowed
g. contact=http://www.aioe.org/index.php?contacts
h. misc=3 crossposts, 25/day, very reliable, very fast
i. location=italy

8. Mixmin
a. site=http://www.banana.mixmin.net/m2n.html
b. register=none
c. server:port=news.mixmin.net 563 SSL/TLS (requires stunnel setup)
d. authentication=none (i.e., blank username & password)
e. ip obfuscation=static? dynamic? none?
f. email obfuscation=allowed
g. contact=?
h. misc=mail2news_nospam-yyy...@m2n.mixmin.net
i. location=?

9. Google
c. server:port=Google has no nntp port, so really doesn't belong here
d. authentication=your-registered-email-address + password
e. ip obfuscation=none! ("Injection-Info" & NNTP-Posting-Host)
f. email obfuscation=none!
g. Contact=none
h. Misc=technically google doesn't belong on this list
i. location=usa

Q: Any other purposely free public general use nntp usenet news servers?

Notes:
- Free, here, means no money is required, no matter how it is defined.
- Public, here, means it is always purposefully open to posting.
- General use, here, means posting to many text newsgroups is supported.
- Static, here, means all posts & nyms have the same IP obfuscation.
- Dynamic, here, means each post or nym has a different obfuscation.
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