for the List [was neo-Nazis on the Net]

[Vaska]

I've just had a little off-list conversation about the "neo-Nazis on the
Net" post I sent a few hours ago.  I am a little disturbed by it, but since
I also don't want to reveal the other person's identity, I've decided to
erase the person's name and paste our exchange here.

Thank you,
Vaska

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At 08:20 PM 7/11/97 -0500, you wrote:
>Hey Vaska, what's the big deal about neo-nazis wanting their own
>newsgroup?  I presume you are against it? Since you took the time to
>fill my inbox with your mail why don't you also take a few moments to
>explain to me your position?   

Self-explanatory, I think.  And then, there's that little delete key, isn't
there, XYZ?

Vaska

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At 08:47 PM 7/11/97 -0500, you wrote:
>I hardly think it self-explanatory to want to censure one newsgroup when
>there is already so much crap out there.....but that's beside the
>point:  do you think that hate groups would really discuss their
>exploits on a newsgroup? WHat would really be stopped?    Hell, it would
>be much easier to monitor hate-groups if they all just wrote in to the
>Net....not that I encouraging monitoring people......


Perhaps some background information might help here.  A couple of years ago,
one of the well-knows Canadian neo-Nazis, unable to push his stuff over here
any more [since we do have hate-speech laws in Canada], tried to use the
Interenet to disseminate the outright hate-mongering lies he was peddling.  

This was no joke, since some of the stuff was relatively well-written AND
was finding its ways into our schools, both here in Canada and over there in
Germany.  The German government, which also has some laws about this
particular type of thing, then stepped in to deprive Zundel of his new means
of poisoning some other people's minds: at least in Germany, where, in the
last 4 years, they've had not a few Nazi-caused lynchings, murders,
house-burning, etc.  

Last Fall, the same group of neo-Nazis, in yet another attempt to gain a
foothold on the Internet, came up with the idea of starting up and using a
rec.music group for the same purpose.  They were outvoted then.  They're
trying it once again, now.  

The incidents in Germany -- and there have been many more than those
reported in the press -- are just an indication of what may be in store if
we all take the attitude that hate speech is merely that: a lot of crap no
one listens to or acts on.  

If you have any more questions or comments on this topic, please post them
on the list becuase the issue is not a private matter at all and it might
have some relevance there in the context of Pynchon's own long-standing
anxieties over things [neo-]Nazi.  In fact, seeing how this indeed is the
case, I shall post our exchanges, with your name and identity protected, so
that other people may have a chance to express whatever opinons they have on
this topic.

Vaska