"Alt" groups are unmoderated groups and therefore have no "terms of
agreement". There are however, some terms know as netiquette that
traditionally provide self-governing suggestions so that usenet works
for all.
Plain text is, and always has been, one of those unwritten rules
because not everyone uses html capable readers to participate. Html is
also considerably bigger content than plain text and therefore slows the
whole system down for everyone; especially those using dialup access
and/or telnet access.

JC Carter wrote:
>
> I would like to address a sticky issue, concerning this news group.
>
> We all like a group, that when you click on a post, or response, it
> loads quickly.
>
> No one wants to hear irritating midis, or wait two minutes for a
> signature to load. It's rude and unacceptable.
>
> Why is allowing one to post, using the text colors they prefer an
> issue? I know not all text color schemes may not be the best for
> viewing. But most are.
>
> Other groups allow text colors to be optional because it doesn't take
> any longer to load.
>
> Light gray on dark gray (the default) isn't attractive or easy to
> read. With all said, I wish you would reconsider allowing just text
> html. But it would help instead of hurting this newsgroup. JMO