alt hierarchy

On Usenet, the ‘alternative’ set of newsgroups, set up so that anyone can start a newsgroup on any topic. Most areas of Usenet, such as the Big Seven hierarchies, allow the creation of newsgroups only after structured discussion and a vote to demonstrate that demand for the newsgroup exists. The alt hierarchy was created to allow users to bypass this process.

Many of the most active newsgroups are alt groups, such as alt.flame and alt.sex.