NETCOM.COM refuses to act against Anti-Semitism

[Gedaliah Friedenberg <gedaliah...>]

The #israel channel of IRC (an interactive Internet chatting area) has
recently been plagued by "takeovers" by a person named Jerry Sanders
who gets his Internet access from netcom.com.  Mr. Sanders uses
aliases such HitlerYth (Hitler Youth), KikeKillr (Kike Killer),
NaziJew and more.  His rantings are disgusting (He offers "custom
built ovens for any Jews").  I recently recorded
the activity in #israel and forwarded a copy to Netcom in order to get
Mr. Sanders reprimanded.  Here is my original letter (along with the
text of Mr. Sander's vile statements) and at the very bottom is the
letter from Netcom's staff (refusing to reprimand Mr. Sanders).

Feel free to contact Mr. Sanders (imperium (at) netcom14(dot)netcom(dot)com) or 
the
Netcom staff (support (at) netcom(dot)com) and let them know what you think!

============================================================
>From support (at) netcom(dot)com  Thu Jul  6 18:32:21 1995
Subject: Re: Netcom user abusing IRC
To: gedaliah (at) panix(dot)com (Gedaliah Friedenberg)
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 1995 15:31:53 -0700 (PDT)

Gedaliah Friedenberg writes:

> Dear Netcom postmaster/staff-
> 
> I am writing in order to complain about the abuse of IRC by one of your
> users.  As a former UNIX System staff member, I realize that you hate to
> have to deal with these kind of incidents.  I regret that I have had to 
> resort to this level.  Yet, one of your persistent users has left me
> no choice.
> 
> imperium (at) netcom14(dot)netcom(dot)com (Jerry Sanders) has a bad "habit" 
> of taking over
> #israel #jewish or another other Jewish IRC channel.  He does so by "hacking
> ops" off of a split server.  He uses Nazi-esque nicknames and makes brutally
> offensive remarks to, and about, Jews.  This has been going on for nearly
> a month.  For the first time I remembered to record his words so that I
> could send them to you.  First, there is record of the Server information
> on the nickname KikeKillr (Kike Killer).  He changes nicknames to HitlerJew
> and AryanNazi and many others.  I did not bother to document his array of
> nickname changes.  It is clear who he is.  Following the Server information
> is the edited text of the #israel channel.  I simply removed the useless
> chatter in the background and the ongoing debating with this Nazi.  I
> apologize that some of the lines are over 80 characters, but this is the
> nature of IRC which works on much greater line lengths.
> 
> Thank you for your time and concern.  Please let me know what actions are
> taken.
> 
> Gedaliah Friedenberg
> gedaliah (at) panix(dot)com
> 
> 
> <gedaliah> whois kikekillr
>  [SERVER]         311 KikeKillr imperium netcom14.netcom.com * :Jerry Sanders
>  [SERVER]         319 KikeKillr :#israel
>  [SERVER]         312 KikeKillr irc.netcom.com :[192.100.81.2] NETCOM Online 
> Communications Servic
> 
>  [SERVER]         KikeKillr's nickname is now HitlerYth
> 
> 
> [LOCAL]   CHANNEL-LOG FILE ISRAEL.LOG OPENED
> 
> [ACTION]          HitlerYth offers to bop your jewess slut...
> 
> [ACTION]          HitlerYth offers to bop your jewess slut...
> 
> [SERVER]          HitlerYth's nickname is now HitlerJew
> 
> [Hazel]           hitleryth.. that is how I know that you are young and 
> stupid.. no one would talk like that you was older and more mature... i would 
> say you are what? 13? just getting into puberty are you?
> [HitlerJew]       AHAHAHAHAHA
> 
> [ACTION]          HitlerJew offers to shackle youe kikes...
> 
> [HitlerJew]       ;]
> [ACTION]          HitlerJew is bust feeling hazel up...
> [HitlerJew]       nice ass
> 
> 
> [ACTION]          HitlerJew slides his hand up Hazels buttcrack....ewwww! 
> slippery!
> 
> [HitlerJew]       AHAHAHAHAHA
> 
> [Elana]           HitlerJew, wie gehts?
> [SERVER]          HitlerJew's nickname is now AryanNazi
> [AryanNazi]       that answer your question?
> 
> [Kipi]            aryanazi- what do you do as a nazi ?
> [AryanNazi]       Ummmm, lower myself by talking with kikes.
> 
> [Elana]           AryanNazi, sie nicht sprechen Deutsch?
> [AryanNazi]       ;]
> [AryanNazi]       Guten Tag
> [AryanNazi]       ;]
> <gedaliah>        Elana:  He is not even a "real" Nazi.  He does not even 
> know German.
> [Elana]           I know that gedaliah..I;ve seen his type before
> [AryanNazi]       So, I suppose most american kikes aren't jewish because 
> they can't speak hebrew????
> 
> [Elana]           what is the reason for you harassing them?
> [AryanNazi]       Me? I haven't harrased anyone ;]
> [Elana]           havent you?
> [AryanNazi]       ;]
> [AryanNazi]       Seig Heil
> 
> [AryanNazi]       Books written by kikes??? Ever wonder if they might be 
> biased???
> [Kipi]            aryan- can you read?? whow...
> [AryanNazi]       ;]
> 
> [SERVER]          AryanNazi's nickname is now KikeKillr
> [ACTION]          KikeKillr offers to custom fit you for an oven....
> 
> [Elana]           KikeKillr, gehe dahin, Ubler. Kenre zuruck in deine 
> dreckige hohle!
> [ACTION]          KikeKillr offers to pick the gold out of your fillings....
> [KikeKillr]       ;]
> 
> [KikeKillr]       Rant all you want subhumans ;]
> [KikeKillr]       ;]
> 
> 
> [Elana]           Kikekillr, I do hope you end up like your idol, Hitler
> [KikeKillr]       hEIL hITLER!
> 
> [SERVER]          KikeKillr's nickname is now HitlerYth

[Netcom's reply:]

Netcom should be associated with Free Speech.  This means that Netcom
does not take action against individuals whose views and feelings are
expressed on the internet.  If this individual has been offensive 
to an individual or group, they have the option within IRC to not 
listen to that individual.  He could be kicked from the channel by
a channel operator, or ignored by those individuals there.

Taking actions against individuals who choose a particular Name or
viewpoint for the expression of that is censorship.  By censoring one
individual for this, our organization and others would be forced to
censor any individual who is offensive to any other.

It is possible to not see messages from a particular individual who is
abusive.  This command is know as "ignore".  To set up the ignore on an
individual, first do a whois command on the nickname to get the person's
username (at) machine(dot)  Then, use the following command to set up the 
ignore:

        /ignore username (at) machine all

This will set up the ignore for all messages sent from this user to IRC
in general and to your personally. 

        - Mark
_______________________________________________________________________
NETCOM On-line Communication Services           Technical Support Staff
24-hour Support Line: 408-983-5970                   support (at) netcom(dot)com