Alt.sex.bondage

alt.sex.bondage was a Usenet newsgroup that was originally created as part of the alt.sex hierarchy, and rapidly attracted people interested in alternate sexuality, becoming the centre of an online BDSM community.

History
It is a common misconception that this newsgroup was created as a joke, similar to other groups like alt.sex.aluminum.baseball.bat, however that is not correct. In 1989, a Usenet administrator, as a joke, wanted to start a flame-war on USENET by crossposting to several inappropriate newsgroups a message soliciting readers to share their BDSM related sexual fantasies. The flames never materialized, but the author received several sincere responses. Deciding there was a need for a newsgroup to support people wanting to discuss these topics, he created it. While named alt.sex.bondage, the intent and flavor of that community was inclusive of all forms of kinky relationships, not just for folks who wanted to tie each other up.

The emergence of sex-related spam on Usenet made the group progressively more unusable, and the community moved in 1997 to other newsgroups, notably to soc.subculture.bondage-bdsm newsgroup and (mostly but not solely for Britons) uk.people.bdsm. Most online BDSM discussion is now on various discussion boards and mailing lists.

The term "Total Power Exchange" was first coined in alt.sex.bondage; the word "squick" is believed to have originated there. YKINOK and maxims such as Ugol's Law also probably originated or were popularized there.