Hi!

I feel that I need to point out that many people have been hoping and praying for years for many of those old files to finally go away, especially the list archives.

All those decades ago, when we had no idea what the internet would become, and many of us were just teenagers, many of us said and did foolish things on the internet, and did them with our real names, and regret it bitterly now. Not all of us work in tolerant professions, or live in tolerant places. I have seen people lose job opportunities, and be at risk for being able to live in certain places, because of having their real names searched and connected to old fanfic or email list hijinks. It is not fair; it is real.

Just because someone used his or her real name online decades ago, before we knew better, doesn't mean that he or she wants it to be revived and searchable now, in connection with the kinds of things people said and did in fandom then.

Please, please, please, do not resurrect anything with real names on it. Most especially, please respect that anyone who is using an alias today is doing so for good reasons and does not want that blown apart with direct connections to their real name.

It's one thing to download files for one's own enjoyment. It's another to upload them for the entire world. When we were on the mailing lists all those years ago, we didn't know there would be archives. We didn't know that employers and landlords would judge us.

Thank you.