The problem was that, when people
left BTi, they could no longer access btinternet.chatter as it was
only available to BTi customers.
To avoid losing contact with the many
friends that had been acquired, it was decided to set up a newsgroup
that would be available to all, regardless of which ISP they used.
free.uk.btinternet.chatter.refugees
was unleashed on an unsuspecting world on the 15 June 2000.
So far so good.
The problem was that BTi, flatly
and indefensibly, refused to carry the new group. This was partially
overcome by people subscribing to different news servers.
At one time even a Russian news server
was being used, though it was not very reliable (it was rumoured
that this server was on a mothballed Russian nuclear sub in the
Baltic!!! never substantiated, I hasten to add).
