cancelbot

The idea of a cancelbot is actually something working within the system."

This time, Arnt Gulbrandsen put together the first software "cancelbot" to trawl Usenet and kill their messages within minutes.

A cancelbot is an automated or semi-automated process for sending out third-party cancel messages over Usenet, commonly as a stopgap measure to combat spam.

Troublesome Issues Even longtime network users who applaud such a use of what they call a "cancelbot" acknowledge that the situation raises broad and troubling issues about censorship in cyberspace.

Starting in 1995, large numbers of rogue cancels were posted to the newsgroup by a cancelbot dubbed "Cancelbunny", mainly against critical articles containing portions of the "Advanced Technology" documents.