How do I access newsgroups from the internet?

While pornography had seen limited distribution over the Internet in the 1980s, it was not until the Internet became more accessible to the general public that Internet pornography became a widespread phenomenon. The earliest online distribution of pornography consisted mainly of Internet users uploading scanned photos from adult magazines to Usenet newsgroups. This type of distribution was generally free (apart from fees for Internet access), and provided a great deal of anonymity. The anonymity made it safe and easy to ignore copyright restrictions, as well as protecting the identity of uploaders and downloaders. Around this timeframe, pornography was also distributed via pornographic Bulletin Board Systems such as Rusty n Edie's. These BBSes could charge users for access, leading to the first commercial online pornography (though not "internet pornography," since BBSes were not accessed via the internet).