From: an294@anon.penet.fi (Just A Anon Poster)
Subject: New Anon Server
Organization: Anonymous contact service
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 20:16:56 GMT

I just received this info in my Email box regarding a anon posting service that
is available to everyone.  I'm passing the public information along.

> What newsgroups does this anon service work with?

Well, all the ones that reach scandinavia. So yes, all the usual ones.

> Is there some security for those who use this service?

Short of having everyone run a public-key cryptosystem such as PGP, there is
no way to protect users from malicious administrators. You have to trust my
moral and ethical integrity. On one hand, I _don't_ read all those alt groups,
as I just don't have the time, and on the other hand I am a pretty well known
net.personality out here in Finland, so any indication of misbehaviour would
blow me off the net faster than you can say "flamewar". And yes, my social and
sexual relationships are more than satisfactory, so I don't have a very strong
urge to hassle anyone over the net :-)

> Do you mind test messages?

No, I don't mind at the least. The concern is pretty understandable. Most
problems I've heard about either have to do with overly-smart
non-RFC-822-compliant mailers en route, or long delays caused by occasional
network failures.

> I would greatly appreciate it if asar was included (if it isn't).
> Sometimes it can literally be a matter of life and death...

Yes, I know. And that is one of the reasons I am committed to support the net
as a social structure. The anon service is one of the ways. Yes, asar is a
typical example of the kind of stuff anon serevers are needed for.

I am including the "long form" of the info. No restrictions, anon mail to
specific users is supported, and most "interesting" groups can be posted to.

You also have to remember there is a delay as 1) the messages have to come out
here to Finalnd to be anonymized, and then go back 2) there is a random delay
between 10 min and 1 hour so that local finnish sites can't deduce posters
based on e-mail logs too easy, and 3) my connection to the internet at large
is by way of an experimental ISDN connection to fuug.fi, not always too
reliable...

Cheers, and have fun (but remember to post safe),

        Julf

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

The short version:

Anonymous posting:      <name.of.news.group>@anon.penet.fi
Anonymous mail:         <user's alias>@anon.penet.fi
                        user%host@anon.penet.fi
Test path/get alias:    ping@anon.penet.fi
Assign a nickname:      nick@anon.penet.fi      (in Subject:)
Administrator:          an0@anon.penet.fi       (anonymously)
                        admin@anon.penet.fi     (non-anon)
________________

The long version:

INTRODUCTION TO THE GENERALIZED ANONYMOUS POSTING/CONTACT SERVICE

Original by Karl Kleinpaste, Karl_Kleinpaste@cs.cmu.edu 25 September 1992
Last update: 27 October 1992

A number of newsgroups have for a long time supported various forms of
anonymous correspondence.  Unfortunately, these forms of support for
anonymity have always suffered from maladies such as the demise of the
site, the fact that distinct services leave the user with a different
anonymous userid for every newsgroup, the uncertainty of not-always-
properly maintained mail/news software, and other problems.

This service is an attempt to address these problems.

All postings for any newsgroup will leave the user with a single
anonymous contact userid -- the software shares a common database for
this support.

The anonymous mail support is, of course, double-blind.  You can't see
where you're sending beyond the an### viewpoint; in the same
way, your recipients can't see back to where your messages come.

The usual disclaimers apply regarding what goes through here...  I
don't see what comes through, I don't know who does what, but I'll
cancel things which are obviously illegal that are brought to my
attention.  Note that I don't necessarily read the groups in question,
so I'm often not even going to be aware of these things.  There are no
article length restrictions of any kind.  Anything from a line
beginning with 2 dashes ("--") to the end of an article is perceived
as a signature, and is deleted on the way through.

If you simply wish to test out the system and get an anonymous userid
assigned to yourself, drop a note to
        ping@anon.penet.fi
The system will respond automatically with a newly-assigned userid.
If you already have one and send to ping, you'll get an acknowledgement
with your existing userid.  Subject and content of a message to ping
are irrelevant.

You may optionally have a "nickname" assigned to yourself; this will
be inserted parenthetically in your messages' From: headers during
distribution.  Assignment is done by sending a message to
        nick@anon.penet.fi
and the nickname assigned is the contents of your "Subject:" header.
Use good taste, please.

Posting to one of the supported newsgroups is done via mail to the
address
        the.group.name@anon.penet.fi
whereupon the software will do the usual header hacks and post to the
newsgroup.  Crossposting is explicitly not supported.  "References:"
headers will pass; I recommend their inclusion to support threading in
your discussions.

PLEASE NOTE: Delay between arrival at anon.penet.fi of mail aimed at
a newsgroup and its appearance in the newsgroup proper is averaging
several hours.

Mail to an anonymous userid works as one expects: Just write to the From:
address, and the double-blind mailer will hack headers and envelope beyond
recognition.

In the case of both news postings and mail, if you have not previously
been assigned an anonymous userid, one will be assigned when your
first posting or mail message passes through; you will get a message
to this effect from the system.

Note that your address as known to the anonymous user database is
expected to be in user@host.dom.ain format.  Leading RFC822 route
specifications ("@ho.st1,@ho.st2:") are stripped off on arrival, so
the specific Internet path by which your mail gets here will not
affect matters; you should keep a single, consistent anonymous userid.
NOTE, however, that users whose mail originates from UUCP sites, and
hence which use !-paths, may have troubles if routing between hither
and yon changes, because !-path components of your mail address are
not managed at all -- new !-paths mean new anonymous userids.

There is no way for me to cancel mail you've sent to an alias, so
don't even bother asking.

The software implementing this service is based on the stuff written by
Karl Kleinpaste <Karl_Kleinpaste@cs.cmu.edu> and running at
godiva.nectar.cs.cmu.edu, heavily modified and hacked. it is primarily
intended for scandinavian users, but feel free to use it for whatever
purpose you happen to deem fit. I just want to remind you that all the stuff
you send goes back and forth over the atlantic, getting delayed quite a bit.

Cheers,

        Julf

Johan Helsingius     Kuusikallionkuja 3 B 25   02210 Espoo   Finland    Yourp
net: julf@penet.fi   bellophone: int. +358 0400 2605  fax: int. +358 013900166
--
To use this service, send mail to:
Anonymous posting:	<name.of.news.group>@anon.penet.fi
Anonymous mail:		<user's alias>@anon.penet.fi
			<user%host>@anon.penet.fi
Test path/get alias:	ping@anon.penet.fi
Assign nickname:	nick@anon.penet.fi	(in Subject:)
Anon administrator:	an0@anon.penet.fi	(anonymously)
			admin@anon.penet.fi	(non-anon)