This newsgroup (comp.lang.python) may soon be blocked by Google Groups

Tim Golden mail at timgolden.me.uk
Thu Feb 1 12:25:04 EST 2018


On 01/02/2018 17:01, superchromix wrote:
> 
> Our own programming discussion newsgroup, located at
> comp.lang.idl-pvwave, started receiving spam messages several months
> ago.
> 
> Two weeks ago, access to comp.lang.idl-pvwave was blocked by Google
> Groups.
> 
> When trying to access comp.lang.idl-pvwave, a message is now
> displayed, stating that the group owner needs to remove the spam, and
> can then apply to Google in order to have access reinstated.
> 
> However, old public Usenet groups like this have no owner.  The
> comp.lang.idl-pvwave group is more than 20 years old.  Hence, there
> is no way to unblock the group.
> 
> This is a serious problem, since the entire collection of postings
> going back many years has been blocked, no just the spam.  This
> resource is frequently used by IDL programmers.
> 
> Seeing the spam postings in this newsgroup, I expect something
> similar may happen to comp.lang.python, soon.
> 

Thanks for the heads-up. I'm not sure there's anything we'll be able to 
do. Google have seemed remarkably uninterested in Google Groups for some 
years now.

Although I recognise how useful GG is for some people, I wouldn't be 
sorry [as a list maintainer here] if it were to be blocked for good by 
forces outside our control. We've wondered several times whether we 
ought to be block its posts outright, but to date we've simply used 
refined filters to block the spam and other abuse. If Google essentially 
close the group down, the decision is taken out of our hands.

TJG



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