Just in case anyone is interested, there is a vote being held regarding
the creation of a new group, uk.radio.amateur.moderated. Some say (I among
them) that the existing unmoderated group uk.radio.amateur is not fit for
purpose. I urge any DIYers with an interest in amateur radio to consider
casting their vote for the creation of u.r.a.moderated. The second Call
For Votes is in uk.net.news.config:-

Subject: 2nd CFV - Create moderated newsgroup uk.radio.amateur.moderated
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 2015 22:19:38 +0000 Message-ID:
cfv2-uk.radio.amateur.moderated-20151108203918


Please vote!

On Thu, 26 Nov 2015 18:10:26 +0000, Stork wrote:

Just in case anyone is interested, there is a vote being held regarding
the creation of a new group, uk.radio.amateur.moderated. Some say (I
among them) that the existing unmoderated group uk.radio.amateur is not
fit for purpose. I urge any DIYers with an interest in amateur radio to
consider casting their vote for the creation of u.r.a.moderated. The
second Call For Votes is in uk.net.news.config:-

Subject: 2nd CFV - Create moderated newsgroup uk.radio.amateur.moderated
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 2015 22:19:38 +0000 Message-ID:
cfv2-uk.radio.amateur.moderated-20151108203918


Please vote!

How to vote multiple times in the uk.* hierarchy - a step-by-step guide.

1. Prepare in advance.

You are going to set up multiple identities, and each one must have enough
substance that the vote-taker (hereinafter VT) will take them as coming
from a different person. It's possible that despite your precautions the
VT will rumble one or more of your votes as being invalid, so if you plan
on voting, say, ten times, set up a few extra identities.

Each identity must have an email address that is different, and it must be
one at which you can both send and receive email. Further, the emails you
send must NOT have anything in their headers which can be matched to
another address. The simplest way to achieve this is to use a web-based
email, but even so you must do a bit of checking first.

To check, what you do is send yourself an email from the new address. You
need to send all your test emails to an address which will show you ALL
the "headers" - this is where extra tracking information is added to your
email. You may need to figure out how to get your email client to show
them to you as they are usually hidden. The, open each one and look at
the headers (your web-based email provider should have a link or
preference setting that says something like "show headers" or "show
original"). You are looking for two Bad Things:

a) an IP address (something like 80.254.146.36) which matches what you are
using; and b) a path which is sufficiently detailed to show that the
emails came from the same computer (yours).

If a) shows, you can only get (safely) one ballot via that email address.

a) Is less of a worry if your IP changes (many dial-up accounts will be
like this - when you connect to the interweb, it can be through any of a
number of different IPs that your provider has available.
To find out what your IP is, there are many services on the web that will
tell you (just googling "whats my IP" works). Every time you start to set
up a new email address, check this first and write it down.

b) The path will be in the Received: header(s). Look at them ALL for your
IP, and if you are setting up more than one email from the same provider
at (about) the same time, copy the headers and compare them.
It may be that they are the same - if so, send yourself more email a
little later and check. Providers may have multiple possible paths
(multiple mail servers) and if you get a different path the next time that
is a Good Thing. Even if the path is the same, you can try using the
email, as of course if yours is the same many others from other legitimate
users could also have that path. In this case all you need do is avoid
being stupid (see below) when requesting ballots.

Once you have a set of working, untraceable emails you will need some
supporting usenet histories. For each email choose a few newsgroups,
groups in which you already post, or perhaps have some knowledge/interest,
and if possible close to but not necessarily matching the group for which
you expect a relevant vote.

For posting, get a free account at aioe.org or eternal-september.org or
any of a number of free newservers (google will help you find others). It
is ok to get multiple accounts at the same newserver, each tied to one of
your new email addresses - but if you like, spread them around a bit.
Check the privacy policy to make sure that the operator won't give out
your email or logs without a court order; although I happen to know this
can be done it is a tremendous amount of work and stress, and the VT is
very unlikely, perhaps even unable (for an off-shore based server) to want
to go through this even once.


Next you need a newsreader, preferably more than one. Many newsreaders
are free, or have free versions, and if you can have several it will help
cloak who you are. Good ones will allow "profiles" or something similar
in which you can set the name and reply-to email, and you can use those to
keep all the posting names and newsgroups matched up (but a sheet of A4
with notes made as you go is still probably a good idea). More than one
is a Good Thing because newsreaders add headers with various things -
version, organization, and so on, if these are all the same because you
use the same reader it could attract the attention of the VT.

MAKE A TEST POST FIRST. Pick an innocuous group (I use uk.rec.gardening)
and post something innocent and mildly worthy of reply (for example, do
not use "test" as your subject). Replying to an existing thread is better
than starting one - you'll be less noticeable. You want something to
which others can reply without a "who-the-hell-are-you" comment (a
dead-giveaway), and one which you can examine the headers. Your
newsreader will have some sort of option to "show all headers", and what
you are looking for is the same sort of identifying information that you
checked for in the email headers. If, for instance, there is an
"NNTP-Posting-Host" header and your IP (as determined above) does not
change you can only use this news-server for one identity.

If your test post shows no problems, go ahead and start posting - not too
much, and not all at once. What you want to to is simulate someone who is
new to usenet, getting involved gradually, and slowly getting closer to
the topic/newsgroup where you expect the vote to focus. It is not
actually necessary to post in order to get a ballot sent when the Call For
Votes occurs, but doing so is better because it will attract less
attention from the VT. Try to assume a different personality for each
identity - make some consistent speeling erorrs, or use different stock
phrases, or make a reference to different locales as being where you live,
and so on. Keep track or who says what in which way from where, and be
consistent within each identity.

2. The RFD.

There will be an Request For Discussion (RDF) first, perhaps more than
one. This part of the process starts in uk.net.news.announce, so monitor
that. When the discussion starts, don't join in all at once with all of
your identities. If you have an identity that has shown absolutely no
interest in the group/topic before, you may be better off not contributing
at all with that identity. With those identities who do participate, feel
free to disagree with others, each other, and even about which way you
intend to vote. Carried well, you can even announce that you've changed
you mind as a result of some particularly (un)persuasive point another
poster (yourself? who knows?) has made.

3. The CFV.

After a while there will be a Call For Votes - actually two. When that
happens, start asking for ballots. Do this gradually, the CFV takes some
time and if you spread your requests over this period it will be less
noticeable. The requests likely follow a U-shaped curve,
so a few early, some in the middle and the remainder nearer the end of the
period will blend in better. If the VT emails you asking for extra
details, DO NOT REPLY. You've been rumbled, and trying to fix it is not
worth it. The VT will probably expect a few to try it on, so let him
think he has found one. A cat with a dead mouse may not be so eager to try
to catch another, and you will have allowed for this eventuality by making
extra identities, no?

After you get your ballot, don't always send it right back. If possible,
make your response time match your assumed identity's personality -
strident campaigners know right away how they will vote, and lurkers may
leave it until the last minute.

4. The results.

Be patient. The calculation of the results of one recent vote took from
early August to late September, so do not expect anything to happen
quickly. There is nothing you can do at this point anyway to affect the
results directly, but it is probably a good idea to keep posting from the
various identities (excepting any that the VT has spotted) so that
questions from others of the form "Who is name" when they see the
results can be avoided.


5. Should you worry?

No.

There is nothing legally wrong with doing any of the above.

There is nothing the VT can easily (or even likely) do (assuming you have
been sufficiently careful) to be sure any email is not genuine; although
they mutter sometimes about secret ways to check it's all just
TV-detector-van mumbo-jumbo - they have no extra powers to demand logs
etcetera from ISP or news-servers and all they have to go on is the same
stuff you check for.

There is nothing morally wrong with any of the above either - after all,
it's only Usenet, no-one dies; you want what you want, and...

....rest assured, the other side *is* doing this already.