geoff@Fernwood.MPK.CA.US (Geoff Goodfellow) (06/06/89)
ANTERIOR TECHNOLOGY TO OFFER NEW COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION SERVICES
MENLO PARK, Calif. -- June 5, 1989 -- Anterior Technology today
introduced the IN MODERATION NETWORK(TM) and related communications services.
The IN MODERATION NETWORK offers a moderated, filtered, and cleaned-up
information flow of USENET netnews groups and Internet mailing lists.
"Our networked discussion streams have become veritable Love Canals,"
said Geoffrey S. Goodfellow, President of Anterior Technology and founder of
the IN MODERATION NETWORK. "Our network discussions all too often spark flame
fests where participants take shots and blasts at one another. The shrapnel
and debris have been driving main line contributors and readers away.
Researchers and developers no longer have the time or inclination to wade
through the toxic waste of included text, personal attacks, over stuffed
armchair postulations, conjectures and speculations. The IN MODERATION
NETWORK will function as a sewage treatment plant for the network discussion
forums in the Internet and USENET netnews communities. IN MODERATION NETWORK
moderators will cull the raw message flow for the precious metals and jewels.
Only contributions of value will be passed on to subscriber sites of the IN
MODERATION NETWORK."
Anterior Technology will be offering the IN MODERATION NETWORK as a value
added service in support of the research and development communities of the
Internet and USENET networks.
Goodfellow comments, "The Internet links the greatest collection of
researchers, developers and computer resources in the world. One is working
to interface a microprocessor controlled toaster with TCP/IP just for fun;
others are developing advanced supercomputer applications and exchanging
research results with colleagues around the world. Our network discussion
forums have increased in volume and decreased in the number of valuable
contributions. The networked discussion forums of the Internet and USENET
have lost intrinsic value as a result. The on-line forums started out with
the high-quality material that the network users want to see -- the current
trends downward need to be reversed."
The Internet provides worldwide interconnection of more than 700 local
and wide area networks, including the Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency Network (ARPANET), Defense Data Network (MILNET), National Science
Foundation Network (NSFNET), Computer Science Net (CSNET/BITNET) and others.
Many universities, research centers and government agencies are interconnected
via the Internet. AT&T, Digital Equipment Corporation, IBM, Hewlett Packard,
SUN Microsystems and other companies engaged in R&D are on the Internet. It
is estimated the Internet connects over 100,000 computers that interoperate
with each other via the suite of protocols known as TCP/IP. The Internet's
component computer systems range in size from PCs and workstations, to
mainframes and supercomputers.
USENET is an international information network, primarily composed of
computers running the UNIX(TM) and MS-DOS operating systems. USENET systems
exchange information on a dial-up basis with UUCP (the UNIX-to-UNIX system
Copy Protocol) and via the Internet with the Network News Transfer Protocol
(NNTP). The Internet and USENET networks provide research, technical, and
recreational discussion forums that are valuable sources of information and
help. USENET's discussion news groups alone, called "netnews," exchange
information at the rate of approximately six million characters a day.
There are an estimated 572,000 USENET readers and contributors worldwide.
Goodfellow is currently in the process of signing up group moderators and
experts for the IN MODERATION NETWORK. Moderators will act as editors and
filterers, and will provide moderation for discussions. Moderators will also
call on experts in particular topic areas to make contributions to ongoing
discussions.
IN MODERATION NETWORK member sites will have the right to participate in
the value added IN MODERATION NETWORK hierarchy of netnews groups and mailing
lists. The cost to participate in the moderated network initially is $720
annually per site. The IN MODERATION NETWORK and Communication Services will
be fully operational on July 5th, 1989.
To receive IN MODERATION NETWORK material, a member company or
institution can arrange a feed from an existing IN MODERATION NETWORK member.
Alternatively, Anterior Technology also offers subscriptions to its
Communications Services, whereby new member sites connect directly with
Anterior Technology in Menlo Park, California for $35/month and $3/hour. A
dedicated MIPS-M/1000 computer system, a high throughput, 10 million
instructions per second RISC-based computing engine serves as the nexus for
the In Moderation Network and communications services. The system can
communicate with member sites via the Internet with TCP/IP or on a dial-up
basis with UUCP at 19,200, 2400, or 1200 bps.
The IN MODERATION NETWORK is in the process of making additional
arrangements with commercial timesharing and information service providers to
market its news streams to end users via other electronic networks.
Anterior Technology has created an advisory board for the IN MODERATION
NETWORK. The advisory board includes network community luminaries
VINTON G. CERF, Vice-President of the Corporation for National Research
Initiatives, inventor of TCP/IP, Principle Scientist at DARPA-IPTO, and
developer of MCI-Mail; DAVID J. FARBER, Professor of Computer and Information
Science and Electrical Engineering - University of Pennsylvania, a founder of
CSNET, Chairman of the National Science Foundation Policy Advisory Board's
Networking Subcommittee; DANIEL C. LYNCH, President and founder of Advanced
Computing Environments, operator of the Interop conferences; JOHN ROMKEY of
Epilogue Technology, founder of FTP Software, author of PC/TCP; and
EINAR STEFFERUD, President and founder of Network Management Associates.
Geoffrey S. Goodfellow is a former member of the Senior Research Staff of
the Computer Science Laboratory at SRI International, Menlo Park, California.
He was a Principal Investigator of computer security and networking projects
at SRI from 1974-1986. In 1988 he ended a 2 year sabbatical to found Anterior
Technology. Goodfellow co-authored the "Hackers Dictionary, A Guide To The
World of Computer Wizards" with Richard M. Stallman, Guy L. Steele Jr., et al.
Additional information about Anterior Technology's In Moderation Network and
Communications Services may be obtained by calling or sending mail to:
UUCP fernwood!imn-request Anterior Technology
Internet imn-request@Fernwood.MPK.CA.US P.O. Box 1206
MCI Mail Geoff Menlo Park, CA 94026-1206
Telex 65 01 03 73 91 (415) 328-5615
IN MODERATION NETWORK is a trademark of Anterior Technology.
UNIX is a trademark of AT&T Bell Laboratories.chip@ateng.ateng.com (Chip Salzenberg) (06/06/89)
Sigh. It's finally happened... According to geoff@Fernwood.MPK.CA.US (Geoff Goodfellow): >ANTERIOR TECHNOLOGY TO OFFER NEW COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION SERVICES > > MENLO PARK, Calif. -- June 5, 1989 -- Anterior Technology today >introduced the IN MODERATION NETWORK(TM) and related communications services. >The IN MODERATION NETWORK offers a moderated, filtered, and cleaned-up >information flow of USENET netnews groups and Internet mailing lists. Looks like it's time to drag out the old Stargate copyright signatures. -- You may redistribute this article only to those who may freely do likewise. Chip Salzenberg | <chip@ateng.com> or <uunet!ateng!chip> A T Engineering | Me? Speak for my company? Surely you jest!
msmith@topaz.rutgers.edu (Mark Robert Smith) (06/06/89)
Remember, you no longer need to include the "Copyright 1989", as it is now implicit in the United States. All Rights Reserved is probably still required for international postings. -- Mark Smith |"Be careful when looking into the distance, | All Rights 61 Tenafly Road|that you do not miss what is right under your nose."| Reserved Tenafly,NJ 07670-2643|rutgers!topaz.rutgers.edu!msmith,msmith@topaz.rutgers.edu You may redistribute this article only to those who may freely do likewise.
arubin@spies.UUCP (Andy Rubin) (06/07/89)
In article <1097@fernwood.MPK.CA.US> geoff@Fernwood.MPK.CA.US (Geoff Goodfellow) writes: >ANTERIOR TECHNOLOGY TO OFFER NEW COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION SERVICES > > MENLO PARK, Calif. -- June 5, 1989 -- Anterior Technology today >introduced the IN MODERATION NETWORK(TM) and related communications services. >The IN MODERATION NETWORK offers a moderated, filtered, and cleaned-up >information flow of USENET netnews groups and Internet mailing lists. [gobs and gobs deleted] >moderators will cull the raw message flow for the precious metals and jewels. >Only contributions of value will be passed on to subscriber sites of the IN >MODERATION NETWORK." So, what you're REALLY trying to say is that you censor network messages. Ask yourself this: Would the IN MODERATION NETWORK censor this type of message? Probally. Wanna know why? Because it's an advertisement by a for-profit organization, cross-posted to the wrong newsgroups (try biz.*) offering a service for a fee. And the best part is that they've faked us all out and made it look like an Associated Press news flash! >The cost to participate in the moderated network initially is $720 >annually per site. Hey everyone! spies offers this service for FREE, and we don't even censor the messages!!! Call (408) 867-7400 and ask for access... -- Spies in the Wire, PUBLIC ACCESS UNIX (408) 867-7400 UUCP: ...apple!spies!arubin "The true spirit of hobbyist computing" Internet: arubin@spies.UUCP
evan@telly.on.ca (Evan Leibovitch) (06/08/89)
In article <1989Jun6.111130.20332@ateng.ateng.com>, chip@ateng.ateng.com (Chip Salzenberg) writes: >According to geoff@Fernwood.MPK.CA.US (Geoff Goodfellow): >>ANTERIOR TECHNOLOGY TO OFFER NEW COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION SERVICES >> MENLO PARK, Calif. -- June 5, 1989 -- Anterior Technology today >>introduced the IN MODERATION NETWORK(TM) and related communications services. >>The IN MODERATION NETWORK offers a moderated, filtered, and cleaned-up >>information flow of USENET netnews groups and Internet mailing lists. >Looks like it's time to drag out the old Stargate copyright signatures. And it's possible that they'll have no effect on the proposed service. I saw nothing in the original announcement that said you couldn't spread around their 'digest' of articles once you got them. As I saw it, the service they're proposing essentially entrusts Anterior, for a fee, to supply a feed with fewer articles but higher S/N. The fee I would suppose, would pay for the time of those who sift through it all. Some people are simply prepared to pay someone else to condense their news for them into small, easy to digest chunks. At its lowest level, this is done by most tabloids and USA Today. In our own environment, there are those who will pay obscene rates to get Patricia Seybold's "Reader's Digest" approach to Unix news, rather than waddle through Unix Today and Unix Review, both of which they can get for nothing in the US. In some ways, one could consider it "super-moderation", in that it provides moderation on groups which aren't normally moderated, and extra moderation on top of groups which already are. (For instance, a joke may make it through Brad, but may not make it past the Anterior official joke person.) In all, I don't see this as a Bad Thing, considering that it's just one of many options. I see this as bringing in readers who have not read Usenet because they see it as being just too much S/N. "What about kill files," I can hear some of you ask. Well, there are those who will gladly pay someone else to take out the garbage. Like GEnie. And Anterior. And their subscribers. To me, whether this works or not depends only on the judgement of Anterior's 'super-moderators'. And, hey, when the dust all settles, it's only an option. I'm sure that (almost) nobody already on Usenet will use it, but maybe it'll provide an alternative to Compu$erve et al. I personally don't think it'll succeed long term, but so what? I wish them luck. -- Evan Leibovitch, SA, Telly Online, located in beautiful Brampton, Ontario evan@telly.on.ca / {uunet!attcan,utzoo}!telly!evan / (416) 452-0504 Computer salesman's credo: There's an end-user born every minute
diamond@diamond.csl.sony.junet (Norman Diamond) (06/08/89)
In article <1097@fernwood.MPK.CA.US> geoff@Fernwood.MPK.CA.US (Geoff Goodfellow) writes: >>ANTERIOR TECHNOLOGY TO OFFER NEW COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION SERVICES >> MENLO PARK, Calif. -- June 5, 1989 -- Anterior Technology today >>introduced the IN MODERATION NETWORK(TM) and related communications services. In article <274@spies.UUCP> arubin@spies.UUCP (Andy Rubin) writes: >[gobs and gobs deleted] Yup, that message sure was not posted in moderation. >So, what you're REALLY trying to say is that you censor network messages. >Ask yourself this: Would the IN MODERATION NETWORK censor this type of message? >Probally. Wanna know why? Because it's an advertisement by a for-profit >organization, cross-posted to the wrong newsgroups (try biz.*) offering a service >for a fee. Also because of its immoderate length? -- Norman Diamond, Sony Computer Science Lab (diamond%csl.sony.co.jp@relay.cs.net) The above opinions are my own. However, if you see this at Waterloo, Stanford, or Anterior, then their administrators must have approved of these opinions.
jim@tiamat.fsc.com (Jim O'Connor) (06/10/89)
In article <1989Jun6.111130.20332@ateng.ateng.com>, chip@ateng.ateng.com (Chip Salzenberg) writes: > Sigh. It's finally happened... > > Looks like it's time to drag out the old Stargate copyright signatures. > -- > You may redistribute this article only to those who may freely do likewise. I was wondering what he reason for Chip's new signature was. I really do have to keep current with news better. I don't read for a few days and all the good controversies go right by :-) --jim ------------- James B. O'Connor jim@tiamat.fsc.com Filtration Sciences Corporation 615/821-4022 x. 651 *** Altos users unite! mail to "info-altos-request@tiamat.fsc.com" ***
romkey@asylum.SF.CA.US (John Romkey) (06/10/89)
In article <1989Jun6.111130.20332@ateng.ateng.com>, chip@ateng.ateng.com (Chip Salzenberg) writes: >According to geoff@Fernwood.MPK.CA.US (Geoff Goodfellow): >>ANTERIOR TECHNOLOGY TO OFFER NEW COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION SERVICES >> MENLO PARK, Calif. -- June 5, 1989 -- Anterior Technology today >>introduced the IN MODERATION NETWORK(TM) and related communications services. >>The IN MODERATION NETWORK offers a moderated, filtered, and cleaned-up >>information flow of USENET netnews groups and Internet mailing lists. >Looks like it's time to drag out the old Stargate copyright signatures. Give it a rest, folks. It's not your articles that Anterior is selling, it's the services of an editor who will weed out the cruft and summarize high-flammage, low-content discussions. - john romkey USENET/UUCP: romkey@asylum.sf.ca.us Internet: romkey@ftp.com "We had some good machines/But they don't work no more" - Shriekback