usefor-article-08 August 2002

5.5.1.  Forbidden newsgroup-names

   The following forms of newsgroup-name MUST NOT be used except for the
   specific purposes indicated:

     o Newsgroup-names having only one component. These are reserved for
       newsgroups whose propagation is restricted to a single host or
       local network, and for pseudo-newsgroups such as "poster" (which
       has special meaning in the Followup-To-header - see section 6.7),
       "junk" (often used by serving agents), and "control" (likewise);
     o Any newsgroup-name beginning with "control." (used as pseudo-
       newsgroups by many serving agents);
     o Any newsgroup-name containing the component "ctl" (likewise);
     o "to" or any newsgroup-name beginning with "to." (reserved for the
       ihave/sendme protocol described in section 7.4, and for test
       messages sent on an essentially point-to-point basis);
     o Any newsgroup-name beginning with "example." (reserved for
       examples in this and other standards);
     o Any newsgroup-name containing the component "all" (because this
       is used as a wildcard in some implementations).

   A newsgroup-name SHOULD NOT appear more than once in the Newsgroups-
   header.  The order of newsgroup-names in the Newsgroups-header is not
   significant, except for determining which moderator to send the
   article to if more than one of the groups is moderated (see 8.2).