There have been a lot of rumours flying around recently about the Yahoo Groups service... people are saying that Yahoo will be removing all groups that contain 'adult' content - including any groups of this kind that were originally using the eGroups service, which Yahoo recently aquired. I contacted Yahoo customer services to ask for more information about these rumours, and their reply is republished below.

I've also posted the text of an email I received from someone who has set up a Yahoo group dedicated to campaigning against the removal of adult Yahoo groups, plus an idea I have that might interest people who currently use this kind of service to help them run a UK-based fetish or BDSM group.

What I asked Yahoo:
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Date Originated: Monday April 23, 2001 - 15:20:04

I run a news site for UK fetishists. The fetish community is currently rife with rumours that Yahoo is going to close all the 'adult' groups it presently hosts. Please could you shed some light on these rumours - true, false, reasons, etc? Thanks.
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The answer from Yahoo:
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Date: Sun, 29 Apr 2001 11:11:39 -0700
From: eGroups Feedback <egroups-feedback@yahoo-inc.com>

Hello,

Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Customer Care.

Thank you for your email. Yahoo! has always valued its strong relationship and dialogue with its users. We continue to listen and respond to consumer and partner feedback so that together we can build the best experience on the Web. On April 13, 2001, we put out a press release focused on alleviating some of the confusion in the marketplace on our policies, and to support the concerns of our consumers. For your convenience, attached is the link to that press release:

http://docs.yahoo.com/docs/pr/release755.html

In our Communities and Communications services, where the balance around speech activities is more difficult to strike, we are enforcing our terms of service with regard to adult content through a variety of methods. We will continue to respond to notice from our users, and where appropriate and feasible, we will implement a combination of technological tools, product changes, and human resources. These efforts may not always be perfect, but we are dedicated to striking the right balance between the trust and respect of our members and the diverse interests of the 192 million people from around the world who visit Yahoo! every month.

Please let us know if you have further questions.

Regards,

Customer Care
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I basically intepret this to mean "We're not going to remove all the adult oriented groups in one go, but we may well remove any that we receive any kind of complaint about in future".

The press release they refer to explains that the rumours were mainly sparked off by them removing all adult oriented items from their auctions and classified ad services - but they don't mention the other fact that the email below brings up - the restriction that stops adult groups showing up in searches of the Yahoo groups section.

Email from "don't close adult clubs":
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Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 16:45:41 PDT
Subject: Dont let 'Yahoo' Close The Adult Clubs!!!

'[April 13, 2001] After facing an outcry from conservative groups and skeptical analysts, Yahoo! said it would remove adult-related material from its commerce channels.'

Please join the protest-club dont close adult clubs so Yahoo will see our protest.

Please send this email message to anyone you know!!! If you are Club founder: send this e-mail to your club members-today!

If you want to change things, do something that is productive. Don't just fart in the wind.Try to find a way to make it happen. Thanks to you all.

News: If you haven't heard yet, in conjunction with their efforts to eliminate adult sections from Yahoo Shopping, Yahoo Auctions and Yahoo Classifieds, the powers that be have eliminated the adult section of Yahoo Clubs. Currently all searching of clubs is disabled. If you feel you need to do something about this, I offer the following suggestions:

1) If you want to bitch about this, at least bitch where it could do some good: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/support/contacts/experience.html

2) If you want to find a listing of adult clubs since yahoo disabled the search, try joining this club

3) If you want to move your club to an alternative forum try MSN or Lycos

4) Here's someone wanting to convert your club also: http://naughtynina.swiftsolution.com/

5) If you want to send a petition go here
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On the whole, I get the feeling that the Yahoo groups service is looking to slowly fade out the adult oriented groups... although of course I could be wrong (it happens, a lot!).

If you run (or are thinking of setting up) one of the groups that would be affected if Yahoo does pull the plug on 'adult' content, please read my next article about groups - I might have a solution...