Comcast dumps Usenet

The trend toward banning Usenet news groups, begun early in the summer as a result of actions by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, continues with the announcement by Comcast that they have become the latest Internet Service Provider to shut down access to Usenet newsgroups as part of a voluntary agreement to try and fight child porn online. The voluntary measures were part of an agreement among the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), and the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG).

Seventeen other cable providers across the US have now taken similar action. Critics worry that these actions are overzealous and could turn into a trend that enables governments to regulate content that is arbitrarily deemed harmful to the public good.