Usenet

[Zipporah Schumaker]

Usenet is collection of online discussions that are organized into newsgroups. Users may create their own discussion topics or contribute to existing threads within a topic. Some newsgroups provide forums for questions and answers, while others are designed primarily for file sharing.
Usenet started in 1980 as a medium for discussing topics online, similar to a bulletin board system (BBS). However, instead of being hosted on a single server, Usenet newsgroups were hosted on hundreds of servers across the world. As the Internet grew in popularity, so did Usenet, extending online discussions to countries around the globe.
While Usenet was designed for text-based discussions, it evolved to support file sharing as well. Today, Usenet is commonly used to distribute files (or binaries since the files may contain any type of binary data). Examples include videos, songs, pictures, and software programs. Usenet downloads commonly have an .NZB extension, which is an XML file that describes one or more locations where the actual file can be downloaded.
Usenet data is transmitted over the Network News Transfer Protocol. Access to Usenet is available through a number of different Usenet providers, typically for around USD per month. Examples include Alt Binaries, Newshosting, and Astraweb, among many others. Some services offer web-based tools to access and contribute to newsgroups, but you can also use a newsreader, such as Newsbin, Agent, and Pan.

[Gregory]

A long-standing system of internet bulletin-boards divided by topic into [newsgroups]. Unlike other forms of online communities, Usenet groups are usually accessed by email client or newsreader program rather than an internet provider. Although internet providers and news servers can block access to potentially illegal newsgroups and assign moderators, the Usenet environment is generally a self-controlling anarchy. Although its dated system of message posting limits [file size] and prevents the easy transfer of large files such as software and videos, its an easy way to amass a [gargantuan] collection of pornographic pictures.

[Julian]

A black hole of spam, [kooks], pedophiles, and every other type of weirdo you could ever dream of running into. [Anarchy] [at its] finest.

[Kai]

[The Black Market] of the internet. anything you want to find will be on it. any [stupid shit] you get off of iRC, [kazaa lite], etc originally came off of usenet

[Sommer]

Originally intended for people to discuss topics on [newsgroups], but now its about 90+% links [to porn] sites and [phone sex] numbers. Alot isnt even simple porn anymore.