question on newsgroups

[Backseat Radio]

My dad just ordered a new disk for verizon internet and the users agreement brought up a question that I'd like to bounce off the internet guru's here...

The agreement says that a person is not to have more than 5 newsgroups open at any given time.

is a newsgroup the same thing as say an msn or yahoo group site or a discussion forum like this or a chat room? If their not the same thing how can one tell the difference?  I don't think they are.  My dad seems to think they are.

[LarryTheCucumber]

no

a newsgroup is not the same as a forum.

check out THIS LINK for a good definition of newsgroups

basically its the precursor of the 'forums' we have today, but you generally have to buy a subscription to a newsgoup service to use them.