After the collapse of numerous dot-com companies and the new internet era associated with it, one would have thought that mailing lists would still be actively used and that they would outlive other activities on the web as a reliable communication tool. The large companies have adapted their marketing strategies, and send their advertising material directly to mailboxes instead of using banners to lure potential customers to their web sites. E-mailing is often preferred as a more direct and comfortable medium.¹ However, something is also changing slowly and quietly in the area of lists: they are becoming increasingly event-orientated and are thus relevant for ever shorter periods of time.

[b]Syndicate, Part 2[/b]

A programming collective operating under the synonym Netochka Nezvanova has been spamming up the Syndicate mailing list for some time now using automated e-mails. The many Netochka Nezvanovas work with a special program called »Kroperom« or »KROP3ROM/A9FF,« which substitutes numbers or punctuation marks for individual letters in the text. A few weeks ago, these e-avalanches led to a complete change in the list's administration. Syndicate, which calls it geographical field of reference »Deep Europe,« has been bringing together creative artists from Eastern and Western Europe since 1996 with the aim of exchanging and discussing cultural projects. This initial focus had become more diffuse over the years and gradually lost its concrete motivation.

Just as before, when the lists Rhizome or Nettime were spammed up by the same anonymous programmers under other code names – such as Antiorp² –, Syndicate also did not survive the e-mail flood without internal restructuring. The replacement of the previous »Western European administration« by Eastern European Syndicalists put an end to the initially presupposed »neediness« of the latter. The server on which all posted e-mails were archived up to now is moving, together with a part of the new administration, to an art server in Norway.³ The cryptic e-mails sent from the address integer@www.god-emil.dk brought about a fundamental discussion of the Syndicate list. With its handover to a new administration team, the communication module enters a new phase.

[b]»filter it, delete it, or read it«[/b]

The structure of a mailing list is determined by technical requirements. As well as the traditional software Majordomo, user-friendly »do-it-yourself« tools like e-groups (whose suppliers sometimes scan the e-mails for a catalog of catchphrases used by political activists) are on offer. Since recently, the open-source counterpart »Minordomo« can also be downloaded from the Berlin agit-pop platform »Rolux.«⁴ There is anti-spam software like Recon Mail⁵ to shield against e-mail attacks, since even standard e-mail programs offer possibilities for using spamming functions.

But with Syndicate it was a different situation: some list participants filtered all »integer« e-mails, while others discussed the method of dealing with precisely these – a controversy flared up between web-art legitimation and discourse blockers. One important question was why Syndicate agreed to a discussion about how to deal with the spams in the first place. Did the spams cause Syndicate 1's ⁶ defeat? Or what were the additional factors that contributed to the series of subscription cancellations? Can this discussion be seen as symptomatic of needed criticism that had until then remained unformulated?

[b]The Limits of Virtual Community[/b]

Academic literature imputes many characteristics to mailing lists as communication forums. The space-time theory is one of these. It claims that communication under electronic conditions leads to a dissolution of physical space, leaving only a social space. The co-founder of Nettime, Pit Schultz, similarly emphasized that the »social context« alone gives postings a meaning and makes reception possible. The virtual communities supported by the »small media«⁷ are always united by a common thematic focus and often have a limited life span.

Against this background, the vehemence of the spams becomes clear. »In short, noise is only perceived as noise when the definition of information is kept narrow.«⁸ A Syndicate member commented recently that there were »no cultural excuses for NN,« it was »a pure ideology, nn-ism.« In this way, the structural interruption of the »Syndicate discussion space formed a starting point for fundamental questions. By increasing the number of postings, NN created larger gaps in the threads, the invasive interventions caused a break in the line of discourse, giving the structural theory of space and time an additional dimension. During the discussion about administration and moderation, the various camps within the list became obvious: fans of web art were suddenly confronted by those interested in a regulated discourse.

If it is assumed that lists have a tactical base for their actions, while web sites tend to act strategically and in the longer term, what role do the spams play within the lists? During the discussion about the situation of the Syndicate list, the emotional aspect of e-mailing was one of the those emphasized. »Trust is a special and important thing to have, and at present, no one trusts this list – this is the problem.« This made it clear how the disturbance caused by the spams was able to cripple the list in its tactical approach. Or, as a message on Syndicate put it: »This well known tactic has a name: disruption.«

[b]Flaming = »hate speech«?[/b]

The discussion about the location of Syndicate can be linked to the »hate speech« theory of Judith Butler. »If ?hate speech? acts in an illocutionary way by injuring in and through the moment of speech and constituting the subject by means of the injury, it has a challenging function.«⁹ The gesture of spamming can thus be understood in analogy with »hate speech«; the contents of the e-mails have a manifestative character. »The person using 'hate speech' is responsible for repeating and reviving this speech in a certain form and renewing the contexts of hate and injury.«¹⁰

When applied to the Syndicate case, the »integer« spams contain, as well as ornamental text fragments, lampoons that constantly use language as a form of power and attack the current discourse. In particular, the statement »corporate fascist« that often occurs in the »integer« postings can be seen as »hate speech.« The possible injury assigns another social space to those under attack, or, to put it strongly, takes any social space away from them. A further, even more direct analogy to the »hate-speech« definition is revealed in the personal accusations of fascism and neo-colonialism made by some participants during the censorship and moderation debate. These excessive contextual references were, however, also criticized by other Syndicalists.

Many years of practice prove that a list like Syndicate does not simply fade away, but can undertake a doubled reformulation. So far, this has happened in a structural regard; a reorganization of content should follow. It remains to be seen whether Syndicate survives primarily as an alternative forum for Forwards and various festival invitations.

 

Translated by Tim Jones

 

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