http://www.wired.com/news/culture/story/3431.html

[Tom Stanton]

At 03:16 AM 4/27/97 -0400, argus. wrote:
>[snip] He acknowledged the legal grounds for complaint, but immediately
>disagreed with my wanting to pursue that, saying it would 
>naturalize copyright laws...

What does "naturalize the copyright laws" mean? . ..

[HUGE snip]

>Any good ethnographer (tho even such a profession must be suspect) knows
>to respect those they study.  Entering a community and observing it 
>creates precarious situations that only careful diplomacy and strong
>insight can negotiate.  Sneaky backhanded Kitty-Kelly analysis does
>damage to both to the subject and the resultant readers.  I dont give
>a shit how *cute* Jules' take on the aura of Pynchon vs. the Real Average
>Joe will be--he abused the Pynchon-L community when he was posting,
>and abuses us now.  

Who defines how an "internet community" may or may not be observed?
This is a free medium, not some club or tribe. Jules or any other person 
has every right to join, observe, leave, and publish their opinions regard-
less of what the "community" thinks. That's the whole point.

>If you dont think so, think about the consequences
>of the Wired article.  M&D mania will be bad enough.  How many more
>rude and gluttonous thrillseekers do you expect to come rubbernecking
>now that we are a species on display?  And what integrity can we 
>maintain as a community if we accept insolent violation of our culture?

You flatter yourself. "Thrill seekers" on the P-list? The chat rooms on AOL
and IRC will traffic far more thrill seekers than a list whose members, I
suspect, can barely get their loving spouses and friends to read more
than a few snippets once a month. 

>Retaliation seems to me to be a way to prevent this sort of rudeness 
>from happening more often, in other communities.  So I really do 
>advocate anyone who is willing to use the law to fight his book.  
> [SNIP] because a little world I love has been pained
>by an outsider's actions and the government happens to have a nice
>tidy way to fight back.  Laws are an instrument that a community uses
>to articulate their will.  From the ratio of glad/mad posts on Jules,
>it certainly seems that we are on the "mad" side.

What do you mean, "we?" Stop articulating your will and prejudice as that 
of the P-List.  And seek your revenge under your name and not in the name 
of the P-list. I would unsubscribe if I ever thought this group was both
petty 
& stupid enough to consider any legal action or net-based retaliation. 

Nice "community" you're advocating here...