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Dear friends,


I am writing to you concerning the internet's
"rec.music.white-power" debate.  In a nutshell,
cybernazis on the net have proposed that they be given a
special newsgroup in the "recreation" hierarchy; others
oppose this and have formed a VOTE NO campaign.

The cybernazis already have what is sometimes called home
bases on six groups in the "alt" news group
hierarchy. This coupled with their desire for a seventh
group in "rec" has produced controversy and confusion.

The "alt" news groups hierarchy is like a Village Green
in cyberspace. All citizens can go there almost whenever
they like and discuss whatever they want. The nazis go to
the Green in places like "alt.politics.white-power" and
hold their discussions.

Almost any group can informally add news groups in "alt."
Whether many Internet Service Providers carry these is a
different matter.

The other areas of the internet news groups outside "alt"
are special areas of the Village Green where the citizens
have voted to establish certain limitations. They can
vote to preserve part of the Green as a permanent
playground for children and a second part as a permanent
first aid station.

Voting for "rec.music.white-power" is like voting a
permanent place on the Village Green devoted to hate
speech. The VOTE NO campaign opposes this.

Not all Internet Service Providers carry the full-range
of "alt" groups, but in essence all must carry groups in
the "comp" (computer) or "rec" (recreation)
hierarchies. So "rec.music.white-power" will be like a
radio station, broadcasting hate speech throughout the
world 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The VOTE NO
campaign doesn't want to approve a global 24/365 RADIO
HATE.

If Holocaust Revisionism represents the cool, clean,
academic side of neo-nazi propaganda, then racist
skinhead music can be oriented to whip up the lynch
mobs. Bands have names like NoRemorse, Aggravated
Assault, and Berserkr (sic). Rahowa!, whose band name is
taken from the phrase RAcial HOly War, features nazi
salutes on its album cover while the group Nordic Thunder
calls one of its albums _Born to Hate_.

This makes defeating "rec.music.white-power" especially
important.

ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE "VOTE NO" CAMPAIGN

1) The NO vote is censorship.

We are not calling on any government to intervene and
limit the cybernazis.  We are not calling for any
corporation to cut existing internet service.

Most of us opposed the Communications Decency Act in the
U.S.A. that makes it a felony to transmit "indecent"
material.

Most of us opposed Compuserve when it cut the "alt"
hierarchy going into Germany at the request of the
Bavarian prosecutor's office.

Strange isn't it that nobody accused us of trying to
censor the government's "right" to limit the citizens? No
did anybody accuse us of trying to censor Compuserve's
ability to run the CS service as it saw fit. Why then
accuse us of censoring cybernazis?

2) The NO vote violates the rights of the cybernazis.

Their rights have been fully respected.

They had the right to make a proposal. They did, with
their Request for Discussion proposal.

They had the right to call for a vote. They did, with
their Call for Vote proposal.

The call for the vote was the right of the
cybernazis. The vote itself is the right of everyone on
the net to vote. We are exercising our vote. We are going
to vote NO.

The cybernazis have their freedom of speech to advocate
that people vote "yes." And we have our freedom of speech
to advocate a NO vote.

The right to call for a vote never gives anyone an
automatic right to win the vote. Imagine people proposing
a law that outlaws interracial marriages. Do they have a
right to propose the law? Of course they do! But we can't
imagine anyone seriously arguing that their rights are
"violated" if we vote down such a law.

That is all we are calling for in the VOTE NO campaign.

3) You need to defeat the nazis in debate.

Outside cyberspace no large nazi organizing effort has
ever been defeated because of a debate.

Fascism was not defeated during WW II by people standing
outside Auschwitz saying "let's debate." It was smashed
when Soviet tanks slammed into Berlin from the east and
Allied tanks from the west.

The 1960s KKK was not defeated in the South by people
standing in front of burning crosses or burning black
churches saying "let's debate." The Klan was defeated by
a Civil Rights movement embraced by millions of people
throughout the U.S.A. It was not defeated in the debating
halls but in the bus stations, the voter registration
lines, and in protest marches in the streets.

4) We need to organize people to counter the cybernazi
propaganda.

Of course we do! But the VOTE NO campaign does not
counterpose opposition to the "rec.music.white-power"
proposal with countering existing cybernazi propaganda in
the "alt" hierarchy.

There is no physical violence in cyberspace, so that
there is but a minimal difference between debating
cybernazis and posting messages to counter their
propaganda. The VOTE NO campaign does not tell people
they should not post antifascist messages in the neo-nazi
"alt" news groups. Most supporters of the VOTE NO
campaign believe there should be more antifascist
material posted in those groups.

Strangely, however, many people most opposed to the VOTE
NO campaign have *never* posted a single antifascist
message. They have never sought to counter the cybernazi
propaganda. They have never "cyber-debated" the nazis.

5) We need to be careful about what we oppose, because
the people whose proposals we oppose will oppose ours.

Frankly this strikes us as a form of Chamberlainism
calling for "cyberpeace in our time" if only we accept
that "rec.music.white-power" will be their "last
territorial claim in cyberspace."

But the cybernazis have promised no such thing. Indeed,
they have openly claimed they want all of cyberspace and
a nazi-dominated internet.

The cybernazis have openly tested their techniques to
destroy the efficiency of news groups, and bragged how
they have left in ruins news groups like
"alt.fan.barry-manilow" and "alt.food.dennys."

Being "nice to nazis" in the hope that they will be nice
to us is not a formula for success; it is a sure strategy
for destruction.

6) We need to "keep an eye" on nazi behavior and
"rec.music.white-power" is good for that.

There are already very professional groups tracking
fascist behavior both in and outside of cyberspace. Their
observations and conclusions are available on a number of
WWW pages, discussion lists, and e-zines.

A NO vote will not limit the available information on
"what the fascists are up to."

SUMMARY

There are no governments forcing us to do things; no
large corporations compelling us; no large organizations
or political parties telling us.

For the first time in the history of the world, the
citizens can vote AS INDIVIDUALS on whether they want
hate speech extended.

We urge them to VOTE NO.

 
HOW TO "VOTE NO"

Appended to this article is material quoted from the
"newgroup" net news group that explains how to vote.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP THE "VOTE NO" CAMPAIGN

This campaign is not commanded by Presidents, Prime
Ministers, Generals or Armies, Congresses, Parliaments,
cops or courts.

It has no Board Chairs, no corporations, no bosses.

It has no directing political parties, no Commissars, no
Chairs, and no leading figures of any sort.

The most important thing you as an individual can do is
exercise your own organizing initiative, consistent with
the demand of your own conscience, sense of ethics,
and/or politics.

If you are a member of a group you can make sure that
other members know of the upcoming vote. You can post
this document to them. You can send this document to
friends (just put your e-mail address on it and remove
mine!) You can write your own.

You can phone friends in other areas and let them know of
the vote and the campaign.

You can post this material to various discussion groups
you regularly read.

You can post this material to the different internet
lists to which you subscribe.

YOU CAN WRITE YOUR OWN MATERIAL.

We are not advocating that you "JUST say no to hate." We
are saying that as a minimum you VOTE NO to
"rec.music.white-power." Then go after hate speech and
hate organizers however you want and as much as you want.

HOW TO VOTE

Send E-MAIL (posts to a newsgroup are invalid) to:

 music-vote@sub-rosa.com

Please do not assume that just replying to this message
will work. Check the address before you mail your
vote. Your mail message should contain one and only one
of the following vote statements:


I vote YES on rec.music.white-power

I vote NO on rec.music.white-power


You may also vote ABSTAIN or CANCEL but these are not
counted as valid votes for the total count.

If your mail software does not indicate your real name,
please also include the following statement and add your
name (on the same line).

 Voter name:

IMPORTANT VOTING PROCEDURE NOTES:

Standard Guidelines for voting apply. One person, one
vote. Votes must be mailed directly from the voter to the
votetaker. Anonymous, forwarded or proxy votes are not
valid. Votes mailed by WWW/HTML/CGI forms are considered
to be anonymous votes.

Vote counting is automated. Failure to follow these
directions may mean that your vote does not get
counted. If you do not receive an acknowledgment of your
vote within three days contact the votetaker about the
problem. It's your responsibility to make sure your vote
is registered correctly. Duplicate votes are resolved in
favor of the most recent valid vote. Addresses and votes
of all voters will be published in the final voting
results post.