"Hairy One Kenobi" <abuse@[127.0.0.1]> wrote in message news:<KYHgb.9319$QH3.238@newsfep4-winn.server.ntli.net>...
> "Spider" <beelzebubba@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:73da2590.0310070744.2566a23b@posting.google.c om...
> >
> > There is a fellow who posts to sci.environment - Mike Vandeman. His
> > vocal, extremist stances on wilderness access issues are roundly
> > crossposted and his writings are almost universally reviled. And yet
> > he hasn't lost his ISP. His posting rarely fail to generate flames
> > and then degenerate into pissing matches, but yet he retains his
> > access via pacbell.net. The bar is really high for alt.* groups -
> > physical threats, SPAMming, and the like would probably get you
> > cancelled. Anything less? Not very likely.
>
> Incorrect.
>
> Chances are, either the abuse team are otherwise occupied/useless, the
> Charter allows idiots to post, or noone who knows how a killfile works is
> bothered to do something "scary".

I know for a fact that folks have tried to get his ISP to drop him for
years. And they don't. I also know for a fact that in order to have
service cancelled, you need to violate ToS - and USENET flamewars are
*usually* not sufficient cause. A friend in Canada who works at an
ISP says that USENET complaints are routinely thrown out, unless it's
about SPAM or contains libel/threats. He says he gets a lot of "sour
grapes" e-mails, but so far has cancelled one guy due to SPAMming
USENET. None for "abuse."

> Type "altavoz" into Deja/Google Groups for an example of what /used/ to
> happen when someone peed-off a sufficient number of people..[1]

WOW! This guy really worked hard at it - I humble myself before the
flaming master! LOL.

> [1] Don't worry - no concrete pollution in lakes ;o)

Heh. Good one.

I do recognize your point, however. I will keep it in mind, of
course.

Spider