Are we gatewayed to Usenet?

Last night when I entered the newsgroups of my system (Netcom) I was
given the choice of subscribing to a new newsgroup,
"cypherpunks.list". I did with alacrity, to discover what was going
on.

Here's a sample of what's appeared so far (a screen in "tin"):

...
21    1  PC random number hardware                      Jon Boede
22       Need Info                                      Christopher M. Wis
23       Wired 1.6 is not yet publically available      Timothy C.Ma y    
24       Caller ID                                      Wabasha-Kellogg Hi
25       Tropez phones                                  Wabasha-Kellogg Hi 
26    1  TEMPEST, Van Eyck Radiation, and Eavesdroppin  Timothy C. May    
27       (fwd) Clipper and Tipper on Route 666          Timothy C. May     
28       [alt.security.pgp] pgp.iastate.edu service di  warlord@MIT.EDU   
29       Mark Abene (Phiber Optik) sentenced            Doug Merritt
30       TEMPEST Defenses and average Van Eck Gear...   nobody@shell.porta 
31       Nymalizer, politics on the list                Greg Broiles
32       Test of this list...                           Timothy C. May    
 

I believe someone has gatewayed the list onto Netcom, which is
available to many thousands of subscribers, including local POPs
(points of presence) in Washington, D.C., Boston, Atlanta, Austin, and
of course all up and down the West Coast.

Is this such a good idea? And should it be unilaterally done? If there
was discussion of this, I must've missed it somehow (which I doubt).

It does look like it may've been a one-shot affair, as the recent
messages to the List proper have not appeared in the newsgroup. Also,
I posted a test message to the group, which appears above as item #32,
but which appeared only in the newsgroup and not on the List proper
(two hours have passed, so it may eventually appear).

Certainly our List is not a deep, dark secret, and certainly we know
the list is gatewayed into some local networks, but I really worry
about everything we say hear being readable by anyone with a newsfeed.

It also opens us up to more disruptive flaming and puerile
argumentation.

--Tim May

-- 
..........................................................................
Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,  
tcmay@netcom.com       | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
408-688-5409           | knowledge, reputations, information markets, 
W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA  | black markets, collapse of governments.
Higher Power: 2^756839 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available.
Note: I put time and money into writing this posting. I hope you enjoy it.

tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May) wrote:

> Last night when I entered the newsgroups of my system (Netcom)
> I was given the choice of subscribing to a new newsgroup,
> "cypherpunks.list". I did with alacrity, to discover what was
> going on.
...

> I believe someone has gatewayed the list onto Netcom, which is
> available to many thousands of subscribers, including local POPs
> (points of presence) in Washington, D.C., Boston, Atlanta,
> Austin, and of course all up and down the West Coast.

Well, I read the list here as a local newsgroup on cmu.edu, it's not
uncommon at some sites to do this, as it cuts down on incoming mail.  If
it becomes a problem, we could restrict posting access to "registered"
users, as is done on extropians, but I think it might be a bit premature
or possibly counterproductive to take such a step on this list.  I
prefer reading it a local newsfeed, since there is no digest version
availiable, and because it allows me to keep my personal mail seperate
from the list.  I would reccommend that if certain sites become a
problem by attracting flamers, communists, liberals, or government
authoritarian types, that we could remove them on a case-by-case basis.

Gateways to local usenet groups are fairly common for the list.  CMU
is behind one, and there are several others.  The most frequent reason
given is that it is easier to read a large list with news software
rather than mail software.  (I am just passing this own; don't quibble
with me over it.)

What I find most interesting is that I cannot identify where netcom is
getting their feed from.  None of the netcom addresses on the
distribution list appear to be gateway addresses, nor have I heard
from any netcom administrator about making such a gateway.

There are 34 netcom accounts on the list.  Perhaps if enough of you
asked where this distribution came from the answer would appear.

Eric