Steps on Posting Anonymously to Newsgroups Using Private Idaho's Nym Menu Using a Mail2News Gateway

Last Updated on July 14, 1996

The process described below will not give you instant gratification. It normally takes 48 hours before you will see your Message Posted to the newsgroup(s) that you selected.

1. You must have your Nym account setup already with alpha.c2.org. If you have not done this yet, please read Nymnew.faq
2. Select Clear All from the Edit Menu
3. Select Auto-close PGP from the PGP menu.
4. Select Remailers from the Menu and then select Advanced Cypherpunk. Finally select Encrypt to Remailer(s)
5. In the To: box, Select mail2news@anon.lcs.mit.edu as the email gateway. Please note, if mail2news@anon.lcs.mit.edu, is not listed in your address book, please add it as follows:
   • Select | File | Address Book and then add mail2news@anon.lcs.mit.edu to the address book in the location that you would like it to appear.
   • Any additions or edits are immediately recognized by Private Idaho.
   • Other email gateways that work at the PRESENT TIME ARE:
     • mail2news@myriad.alias.net
     • mail2news@utopia.hacktic.nl
     • usenet-article@news.uni-stuttgart.de
     • mail2news@news.demon.co.uk
     • Keep your mail2news gateway list fresh.
6. In the Subject Box, type in the text of your subject.
7. Type your message in the message window. For example, "This is a test message sent via Private Idaho".
8. Select Prepare Nym Message from the Nym menu.
9. Several things have happened. You should have a message just above the message window in red that reads, "ENCRYPT NYM MESSAGE BEFORE SENDING". In addition, your message window should look like this:
   
   
   • From: bozo@alpha.c2.org ()
   • Password: (enter your password here)
   • To: mail2news@anon.lcs.mit.edu
   • Subject: (Private Idaho copied the text from the step above)
   • Newsgroups: (Please note, Private Idaho DOES NOT enter the "Newsgroups:" line for you. You will have to enter this on your own. Type in the name of the newsgroup or groups that you want to post to). For example:
     • Newsgroups: alt.anonymous.messages (OR use the format below for multiple newsgroups). Please note the space after the colon and NO SPACE after the comma between newsgroups.
     • Newsgroups: alt.anonymous.messages,alt.test,alt.security.pgp
   • This is a test message sent via Private Idaho. (This is your Message. Type in whatever your message should say.)
   • (Optional) Replying to a Previous Post
     • Most newsgroup readers, including Agent have an option to list the header section of each received post. In Agent this is accomplished by typing the letter "h" in any Agent window. Please note, that Free Agent does not have this option. Make a note of the Reference or Message-ID number. For example: Message-ID: <199308110801.AAA09833@infinity.c2.org>. It is this number that should be included next to a Reference section. So the format is as follows:
     • From: bozo@alpha.c2.org ()
     • Password:
     • To: mail2news@anon.lcs.mit.edu
     • Subject: Please note, the subject should be EXACTLY the same as the original post.
     • Newsgroups: (Enter the Newsgroup(s) name(s).
     • References: <199308110801.AAA09833@infinity.c2.org>
   
   
10. You will need to fill in your anonymous password next to the Password: prompt. Remember this is the password (whatajoke) that you JUST created using Private Idaho, NOT the password you use to decrypt your private messages that have been ecrypted with your PUBLIC KEY. So in the example above, I would type in "whatajoke", without the quotes.
11. You will also need to give your message a subject. Type in "Test Posting Using PI" without the quotes next to the Subject field.
12. Enter the "Newsgroups: " line directly below the Subject Line.
13. Now the only thing that's left to do is to encrypt the message using alias@alpha.c2.org's public key. This is done automatically for you by Private Idaho.
14. Select Encrypt Nym Message from the Nym menu.
15. Your message should be encrypted within the message window. If it is not, go back to number 2 above and start over.
16. You may also to select a remailer from the remailer list. I would recommend that you select the same remailer that you used when you created your Nym Account. In this case select remailer@replay.com from the remailer list.
17. Select Append Info to Message from the Email menu. Your message will be encrypted with the Public key of remailer@replay.com.
18. Now the only thing that's left to do is to post the message. This is done via the Send button. If you are online, press the Send button. If you are not online, select Connect from the File menu and subsequent to connecting, select the Send button.
19. That's it. Now you'll have to be patient and wait for your message to be posted with your anonymous name.

For instructions on how to send anonymous posts to newsgroups WITH an alpha.c2.org using an EMAIL GATEWAY account, read Newsnym.faq

For instructions on how to send anonymous posts to newsgroups WITHOUT an alpha.c2.org account, read News2nym.faq

For instructions on how to send Anonymous Email using Private Idaho's Nym Funtion, read Mailnym.faq.

For instructions on how to send Anonymous Email using Private Idaho WITHOUT an alpha.c2.org account, read Mail2nym.faq.

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