The following topics are addressed:
1 )
What issue(s) does this F.A.Q attempt to address ?
2
) How can one work out which posts are legitimate and which are forgeries
?
3
) So which way is "best" ?
4
) So who are some of the people who have been forged ?
5 ) How can I have an indication
of which posts (supposedly by them) is genuine ?
6 ) Isn't there a much quicker/easier
way to reduce some/all of the forgeries ?
7 ) But what if some "legitimate"
poster uses one/more of those servers ?
8 ) That is still too much work. Isn't there any other way for me to know that the "John Smith" I talk to today is the same "John Smith" I might be talking to tomorrow ?
9 ) So how do I find/subscribe to a "moderated" newsgroup, mailing list or web forum that discusses freeware ?
1
) WHAT ISSUE(s) DOES THIS F.A.Q. ATTEMPT TO ADDRESS ?
It appears that someone is posting to the newsgroup using information that relates to a number of the regular posters. To appear as if the post is done by that poster, in other words, a forged post. This page is intended to assist people to ascertain which posts are these forgeries, and which posts are legitimate.
2 ) HOW CAN ONE WORK OUT WHICH POSTS ARE LEGITIMATE AND WHICH ARE FORGERIES ?
There are three ways :
(1) Look at the (standard)
headers of posts that are genuine. Those that are different are probably
forgeries.
(2) Look at the (standard)
headers of posts that are fake. Those that are different are probably genuine.
(3) Look at the (standard)
headers of both fake, and genuine, posts
I say "standard headers" because if a legitimate poster is changing his/her headers then it is pretty easy for a forger to do the same. So there is no point looking at "customised" headers.
As most of the headers in a newsgroup post can be forged (1), or (2), alone are unlikely to be sufficiently reliable to cover all situations. Option (3) is therefore likely to be the best approach. This page is intended to help make that option easier to carry out. By pointing out headers, and the content of headers, that one may seek to look for for validation of posts.
4 ) SO WHO ARE SOME OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN FORGED ?
Some of them are...badgolferman, Bear Bottoms, Bjorn S, Duddits, Craig, John Corliss, Max Wachtel, Mr Charlie, Richard Steinfeld, Ron May.
5 ) HOW CAN I HAVE AN INDICATION OF WHICH POSTS (SUPPOSEDLY BY THEM) IS GENUINE ?
By checking the headers, and killfiling. If you don't know what that means then go here first. The following headers are taken from genuine posts from these people. Keep in mind that almost all of the headers can be forged so...
(A) A post that is substantially the same as follows does NOT mean that it is genuine. Only that it is indicative that it might be. The more headers in a post that match the following the more likely a post is from the original poster.
(B) A post that has key information missing (in red) does NOT mean that it is a forgery. Only that it is indicative that it probably is. The more headers in a post that don't include the following the more likely a post is not from the original poster.
Path: .....news.mixmin.net!news.albasani.net!not-for-mail
From: "badgolferman"
<REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com>
Organization:
albasani.net
Message-ID: <xn0ggp9531dtwa000@reader.albasani.net>
X-Trace:
news.albasani.net t1N+W7z....
X-Complaints-To:
abuse@albasani.net
X-Face:
09>j%-W3HnyolA\I${DXfUw}~nKyLDiU8IwUVM'`
User-Agent:
XanaNews/1.19.1.202
Path: ....!newsfe01.iad.POSTED!7564ea0f!not-for-mail
From: Bear Bottoms <REMOVEbearbottoms1@gmail.com>
Organization: Bearware.info
Message-ID: <Xns9CF1C77F3BC3Bbearbottoms1gmailcom@69.16.185.250>
User-Agent: Xnews/5.04.25
NNTP-Posting-Host: 70.177.43.61
X-Complaints-To: newsmaster@cox.net
Bjorn
S.
Path: ....!news.karotte.org!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail
From: Bjorn
S. <bsusenet@broadpark.no>
Message-ID: <7l1djnF3ana9qU1@mid.individual.net>
X-Trace:
individual.net GA4TCe4aupFmAdVMxV7i/wrfL5QF56h71L54xfnHf61E7lCJaZ
X-Newsreader:
Forte Agent 5.00/32.1171
Path: .....feeder.visyn.net!......!easynews.com!en-nntp-02.dc1.easynews.com.POSTED!not-for-mail
From: Duddits
<Duddits@Dreamcatcher.com>
Organization: Hole
In The Wall
Reply-To: BrainphartMY
FINGER@hotmail.com <Pull MY FINGER to mail>
Message-ID: <a7l5f5l2dof8s7ijkuddk9kjo0jar6g43q@4ax.com>
X-Newsreader:
Forte Agent 5.00/32.1171
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Path: ...news.tornevall.net!feeder.eternal-september.org!eternal-september.org!not-for-mail
From: Craig
<netburgher@REMOVEgmail.com>
Organization: Netburghers
mit Liederhosen, LLC
Message-ID: <he8spa$4tj$1@news.eternal-september.org>
X-Trace: news.eternal-september.org
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X-Auth-Sender:
U2FsdGVkX1/FgYKJYXsD3srWnwgqSvZWo+139M3SiwQ=
Cancel-Lock:
sha1:skhm1I5s/jk8ohdWOvO40OGp4y0=
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0
(X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.1.4pre) Gecko/20090915 Lightning/1.0pre
Thunderbird/3.0b4
Path:......!local2.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.posted.ccountrynet!news.posted.ccountrynet.POSTED!not-for-mail
From: John
Corliss <q34wsk20@yahoo.com>
User-Agent: Thunderbird
2.0.0.23 (Windows/20090812)
X-NFilter:
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NNTP-Posting-Host:
65.167.68.62
X-Trace: sv3-fCznLhtR+JOgrSraswYUWwEJMxla1sdYyHFDi
etc.
X-Complaints-To: Abuse@ccountry.net
X-DMCA-Complaints-To:
support@ccountry.net
X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info:
Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers
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Path: .....!feeder.eternal-september.org!eternal-september.org!not-for-mail
orfilter.dotsrc.org!news.dotsrc.org!not-for-mail
From: Max
Wachtel <maxwachtel@nomail.afraid.og>
Organization: A
noiseless patient Spider or Organization:
what me worry?
Message-ID: <h3jdr0$t25$1@news.eternal-september.org>
X-Trace: news.eternal-september.org or
X-Trace: news.sunsite.dk
X-Complaints-To: abuse@eternal-september.org
or
X-Complaints-To: staff@sunsite.dk
User-Agent: Thunderbird or
User-Agent: Opera
Mr Charlie
Path: .....!posts.news.megabitz.net!nnrp0-asbnva.megabitz.net!not-for-mail
From: "Mister Charlie" <widijaz@gmail.com>
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Richard
Steinfeld.
Path: .....!local2.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.posted.sonicnet!news.posted.sonicnet.POSTED!not-for-mail
From: Richard
Steinfeld <rgsteinBUTREMOVETHIS@sonicANDTHISTOO.net>
User-Agent: Thunderbird
2.0.0.21 (Windows/20090302)
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Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers
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Path: ....!goblin2!goblin.stu.neva.ru!news.net.uni-c.dk!dotsrc.org!filter.dotsrc.org!news.dotsrc.org!not-for-mail
From: Ron
May <mayron@hotmail.com>
Organization: Public
Address
Message-ID: <uutce59ho583jq0nnj53m5u591rnknb1sd@4ax.com>
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6 ) ISN'T THERE A MUCH QUICKER/EASIER WAY TO REDUCE SOME/ALL OF THE FORGERIES ?
Certainly, but you risk the possibility of missing posts by legitimate posters. Try this filter :
Message-ID:{aioe|albasani|dizum|gabrix.ath|mixmin|solani|usenet4all|x-privat|mixmaster|september|remailer}
7 ) BUT WHAT IF SOME "LEGITIMATE" POSTER USES ONE/MORE OF THOSE SERVERS ?
Then exclude them. The best way to do that is to split the above filter into two filters. One for the overall filtering and one for the poster who you want to keep seeing. For example, the above could change to..
Message-ID: {aioe|albasani|dizum|gabrix.ath|mixmin|solani|x-privat|mixmaster|september|remailer}
and..
Message-ID: usenet4all
& ! Author: Gordon Darling
or..
Message-ID: {aioe|albasani|dizum|gabrix.ath|mixmin|solani|usenet4all|mixmaster|september|remailer}
and..
Message-ID: news.x-privat.org
& ! Author: Max Wachtel
or..
Message-ID: {aioe|dizum|gabrix.ath|mixmin|solani|usenet4all|x-privat|mixmaster|september|remailer}
and..
Message-ID: albasani
& ! Author: badgolferman
8 ) THAT IS STILL TOO MUCH WORK. ISN'T THERE ANY OTHER WAY FOR ME TO KNOW THAT THE "JOHN SMITH" I TALK TO TODAY IS THE SAME "JOHN SMITH" I MIGHT BE TALKING TO TOMORROW ?
On usenet it is very difficult/impossible to be sure that eg. 6 posts by someone calling themselves "John Smith" are all written by the one person.
There are a number of ways of addressing this issue. Most involve poster authentication such as the need for a particular username/password to post and/or not allowing multiple people to use the same posting name. One often finds this sort of thing in a "moderated" newsgroup, emailing list or web forum.
9 ) SO HOW DO I FIND/SUBSCRIBE TO A "MODERATED" NEWSGROUP, MAILING LIST OR WEB FORUM THAT DISCUSSES FREEWARE ?
These types of forums either currently exist, are proposed, or are in "beta" testing. If you are a long term ACF poster, haven't been involved in flame threads and are willing to be a "beta" tester then you should consider contacting me for more details.
John
Fitzsimons.
This article is provided as is without any express or implied warranties. While every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this article, the author assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.
Copyright (c) 2010 by John Fitzsimons, all
rights reserved. This FAQ may be posted to any USENET newsgroup, on-line
service, or BBS as long as it is posted in its entirety (without change)
and includes this copyright statement.