From: catwheezel@operamail.com 
  
 [Pointless troll-like cross-posting removed] 
 On 2010-12-12, Lombroso  wrote: 
 > Who determines which newsgroups exist 
  
 News Service Providers 
  
 > and which are moderated? 
  
 News Service Providers in co-operation with the moderators. 
  
 There are procedures and mechanisms established and maintained to 
 facilitate such things, for most newsgroup hierarchies.  As far as the 
 'Big 8' newsgroups are concerned, there is a management board of brave 
 volunteers often referred to derogatively or affectionately as "the 
 bambies". 
  
 > Can a 
 > company decide that a newsgroup about their product is moderated? 
  
 A commercial organisation, just as any fleshly being, can approach the 
 management board of a hierarchy with a proposal for a new group.  Or they 
 can create a hierarchy all of their own and either keep it 'private' on 
 their own server, or permit propagation to the public news-servers.  Or a 
 bit of both.  Or some person having nothing at all to do with the 
 commercial organisation can get in first.  There are examples of all 
 those, and more, out there in the wild. 
  
 > The moderated status of two symbolic mathematics programs Maple and 
 > Mathematica is different: Mathematica is moderated, Maple not. Some 
 > people on the internet suggest that this is characteristic of the 
 > difference between the two companies. 
  
  
  
 > Can Mathematica determine that 
 > comp.soft-sys.math.mathematica is moderated? 
  
 Did Mathematica get involved in the original creation of the group?  Do 
 they take any interest in it?  (Those are rhetorical questions - you can 
 research them for your own instruction if you wish, but there's no need or 
 point posting the results of your research here). 
  
 As a good starting point, the intended nature of a newsgroup is determined 
 by its legitimate users; in practice, the actual users make any group what 
 it is.  A moderated group's character can be influenced by the moderation, 
 which may or may not be amenable to suggestions or requests from the users 
 or the hierarchy's 'managers'. 
  
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