On Fri, 19 Mar 2004 18:22:41 GMT, dd
wrote in Message-Id: :

Many people are new to the Internet and newsgroups,

In the "old days" (early '80s) the news reader client program would
force the user to read the periodic postings in the news.newusers
newsgroup. That initial behavior of the newsreader insured that each
new usenet participant had an opportunity to research accepted
practices before plunging in without a clue.