It used to be that every ISP ran a Usenet server. The reason why they stopped is a crackdown on illegal content (piracy and obscenity) on binary groups. The rea

It used to be that every ISP ran a Usenet server. The reason why they stopped is a crackdown on illegal content (piracy and obscenity) on binary groups. The reason why almost nobody complained is that text groups were already in terminal decline. Mutually reinforcing cycles that led to the current state of Usenet as a seedy backwater where it was once an essential part of the Internet (and the UUCP network before it).