"Dave Cornwell" wrote in message ...

Wouldn't it be nice though if
someone could set up a parallel USW Group which was by invitation
only. Still unmoderated...
====================

Haven't we been round this loop many times before. AIUI it's still the case
that unmoderated newsgroups are automatically open to all and there's no
control possible over the 'membership'. Moderated groups are something
different of course, but then there obviously has to be a moderation panel,
a way of avoiding aliases for banned members etc.

To reiterate what has I think been said many times before, the only other
alternative is a web forum, where membership is more easily controlled. A
small handful of people here for some reason don't like forums, but I
suspect that the great majority here do use - probably multiple - forums
every day and enjoy the extra benefits on offer such as the ability to post
images, the ability to segregate OT posts into a separate subforum etc. Of
course someone still has to manage and maintain a forum so it's not a simple
option, although some UK weather forums like UKWW, NetWeather etc already
exist. If there was more concerted support to migrate to one of these forums
(or to start a new one) then many here might take up the option.
uk.sci.weather is the only reason that I run a (primitive - it's not worth
anything more) newsreader and I'd personally welcome the opportunity to
ditch that.