Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site t4test.UUCP
Path: utzoo!decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!godot!harvard!seismo!hao!hplabs!intelca!t4test!chip
From: chip@t4test.UUCP (Chip Rosenthal)
Newsgroups: net.news
Subject: Re: Help! How do I restrict the news groups I get?
Message-ID: <1283@t4test.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 28-Dec-84 12:11:00 EST
Article-I.D.: t4test.1283
Posted: Fri Dec 28 12:11:00 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 30-Dec-84 05:28:27 EST
References: <154@ski.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: Intel Peripheral Comp Mfg, Santa Clara
Lines: 47
Summary: a possible solution

> From: jkh@ski.UUCP (Jordan K. Hubbard)
> Date: 26 Dec 84 18:47:53 GMT
> 
> Ok, Ok.. A little while ago I sent out a message asking how to prevent
> certain news groups from being sent to me. Now I admit, the subject line
> was a bit too general a question, but I did clarify it in the message
> by saying that I did indeed know about my feed being able to restrict the
> newsgroups being sent to my site (that being clearly explained in the manual)
> and that what I wanted was a way to restrict them from MY END.. 

I've spoken to other people about this problem before.  We in fact suffer
from it ourselves.  I've got a few low-quality/high-volume newsgroups
shut off because we can't justify spending the CPU on them.  It seems
to me that the best answer would be as follows:

Add another field to the sys file.  This field would be a newsgroup matching
field, similar to current second field.  The difference would be the second
field describes the newsgroups a site is willing to send, and the new field
would describe the newsgroups the remote site wants to receive.  An article
would be transmitted only upon a match of both fields.  Here is the neat part:
the remote system would be able to send a control message to the transmitting
system to set the contents of this new field.  Example:

	US:all:all::
	THEM:net,fa,mod,usa,na:all,to.THEM:all::

"THEM" receives all net, mod, fa, usa, and na newsgroups from "US".  One
day "THEM" sends the following message to "US":

	Newsgroups: control
	From: usenet@THEM (USENET Administrator)
	Subject: cmesg changesys
	Distribution: to.US

	all,!net.flame

The result of processing this message is as follows:

	US:all:all::
	THEM:net,fa,mod,usa,na:all,to.THEM:all,!net.flame::

Voila!  "THEM" has turned off "net.flame".  Any comments on this idea,
especially how tough the change would be?
-- 

Chip Rosenthal, Intel/Santa Clara
{cbosgd,idi,intelca,icalqa,kremvax,qubix,ucscc} ! {t4test,t12tst} ! {chip,news}