View source for Alt.sex

{{short description|Usenet newsgroup}}
{{lowercase|title=alt.sex}}
'''alt.sex''' is a [[Usenet]] [[newsgroup]] – a discussion group within the Usenet network – relating to [[human sexual activity]]. It was popular in the 1990s. An October 1993 survey by Brian Reid reported an estimated worldwide readership for the {{Mono|alt.sex}} newsgroup of 3.3 million, that being 8% of the total Usenet readership, with 67% of all Usenet "nodes" (news servers users log in to access the system) carrying the group. At that time, {{Mono|alt.sex}} had an estimated traffic of 2,300 messages per month.<ref name=Shade>{{cite book|title=Cultures of Internet|editor=Rob Shields|chapter=Is there Free Speech on the Net? Censorship in the Global Information Infrastructure|author=Leslie Regan Shade|pages=[https://archive.org/details/socialresearchph0000unse/page/13 13&ndash;17]|year=1996|publisher=Sage Publications|isbn=0-8039-8805-2|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/socialresearchph0000unse/page/13}}</ref>

The newsgroup hierarchy below {{Mono|alt.sex}} comprises several newsgroups, including {{Mono|[[alt.sex.stories]]}} (which is the biggest newsgroup in the hierarchy after {{Mono|alt.sex}} itself), {{Mono|alt.sex.pictures}}, {{Mono|alt.sex.blondes}}, {{Mono|[[alt.sex.bondage]]}}, {{Mono|alt.sex.bestiality}}, and {{Mono|alt.sex.rape}}. The former four newsgroups generally feature text and images similar to the type that can be found in mainstream adult magazines, such as ''[[Playboy (magazine)|Playboy]]'' or ''[[Penthouse (magazine)|Penthouse]]''.  The latter three newsgroups exemplify a set of sub-groups that deals in more "extreme" or less socially accepted topics. Other sub-groups include some with intentionally humorous names, such as {{Mono|alt.sex.aluminum.baseball.bat}}, {{Mono|alt.sex.boredom}}, and {{Mono|alt.sex.bestiality.hamster.duct-tape}}.<ref name=Shade /> There are more newsgroups on the less mainstream topics or sub-cultures, although as of 1998 they were generally far lower in traffic than those that deal in the more mainstream sexual behaviours.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Internet and the First Amendment: Schools and Sexually Explicit Expression|author=Fred H. Cate|pages=17|year=1998|publisher=Phi Delta Kappa International|isbn=0-87367-398-0}}</ref> In a 1993 analysis of the {{Mono|alt.sex}} hierarchy, Maureen Furniss concluded that "sexually oriented boards act as a kind of support group for people who post notices to them, especially individuals whose sexual orientations are very marginalized (those who practice [[sadomasochism]] or [[bestiality]], for example)."<ref name=Shade />

The first usenet [[BDSM]] newsgroup, alt.sex.bondage, was created in 1991.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/1994/06/alt-sex-bondage/ |title=alt.sex.bondage |magazine=WIRED |access-date=2020-01-07|last1=Kadrey |first1=Richard }}</ref> The term BDSM itself was first recorded on a post in alt.sex.bondage in 1991.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/14168#eid289098363|title = BDSM ''n.'' (in entry B, ''n.'')|date = June 2013|access-date = 29 November 2015|website = Oxford English Dictionary Online|publisher = Oxford University Press|edition = draft}}</ref>

The [[University of Waterloo]] in 1994 ceased carrying {{Mono|alt.sex.bondage}}, {{Mono|alt.sex.bestiality}}, {{Mono|alt.sex-stories}}, and {{Mono|alt.sex-stories.d}} upon the recommendation of its ethics committee, which had expressed concerns that the content of those newsgroups may have violated the Canadian ''[[Criminal Code (Canada)|Criminal Code]]''.<ref name=Shade />

{{Mono|alt.sex.cancel}} is a Usenet newsgroup set up specifically to help combat [[newsgroup spam]] [[crossposting|cross-posted]] to the entire alt.sex hierarchy. The newsgroup is a simple "[[spamtrap]]" – a trap used to collect samples of unsolicited messages that can then be acted on by an automated anti-spam system. According to its [[newsgroup charter|charter]], any message posted to {{Mono|alt.sex.cancel}} may be [[cancel message|cancelled]] automatically.{{citation needed|date=December 2010}}

The well-known mass-mailing [[macro virus| macro computer virus]] called the "[[Melissa virus]]" was originally distributed via the {{Mono|alt.sex}} newsgroup. It was hidden inside a list purporting to contain passwords to pornographic websites. The messages containing the virus were posted with message headers claiming that the post had been written using the [[AOL|America Online]] (AOL) account of Scott Steinmetz, whose username was "skyroket". Kizza reports that the headers on the post were probably forged by Melissa's author, David L. Smith.<ref>{{cite book|title=Computer Network Security|author=Joseph Migga Kizza|pages=87|year=2005|publisher=Springer|isbn=0-387-20473-3}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite journal|author=Brian Reid|year=1993|title=Usenet readership summary report|location=Palo Alto, California|publisher=Network Measurement Project at the DEC Western Research Laboratory}}
* {{cite journal|author=Maureen Furniss|year=1993|title=Sex with a hard (disk) on: computer bulletin boards and pornography|journal=Wide Angle|volume=15|issue=2|pages=19&ndash;37}}

== External links==
*[http://www.faqs.org/faqs/by-newsgroup/alt/alt.sex.html alt.sex Newsgroup FAQs]
*[[GoogleGroups:alt.sex.bondage|alt.sex.bondage]] group on Google
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