FOXMAN REFUSES TO FIGHT BARNES AND NOBLE AND AMAZON FOR CARRYING ANTI-JEWISH LITERATURE

Amazon and Barnes and Noble on Wednesday took the unprecedented step of posting a disclaimer from the Anti-Defamation League that criticizes a book they are selling as an anti-Semitic forgery and tool of hate groups.

The book, "The Protocol of the Elders of Zion,'' is believed by many historians to be a document forged by Russia's secret police in the 19th century to provoke anti-Semitic sentiment. It claims to reveal a Jewish conspiracy to take over the world.

The book has been sold in online and offline bookstores for years, but a favorable excerpt written by its publisher touched off an e-mail campaign calling on the companies to remove the book or add a disclaimer in its description.

Although the companies stopped short of removing the book from their sites, their actions are stirring a debate about how far commercial Web sites should go to regulate the material they sell or post.

Deborah Pierce, staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an online civil rights group, said the precedent could lead to any number of groups seeking similar disclaimers on material they found offensive, such as abortion. "This is an easy case," she said. "Most people would find this book distasteful. But what happens when you get to things that have a little less consensus? Where do we draw that line?"

The Internet's other major bookseller, Borders.com, insists it won't bow to pressure to add such disclaimers to its titles.

"There are times when our customers disagree with our decision to carry a certain book. That's to be expected in a world where there's so many points of view and competing interests," said site editor Rich Fahle. But the ADL argues that online retailers have a responsibility to offer "guidance" to Internet users who may not know what they're buying.

"The Net is a very personal and individual thing," said national director Abraham H. Foxman. "How do you alert the innocent that they're entering a hate zone? People may think that it's a very legitimate book." The ADL contacted the booksellers after receiving hundreds of complaints, he said. The controversy started after Amazon.com posted an excerpt from the book's publisher, Book Tree Press, that suggested the book's claims might be valid.

"If 'The Protocols' are genuine (which can never be proven conclusively), it might cause some of us to keep a wary eye on world affairs,'' the publisher wrote. The passage sparked outrage by readers such as Jeffrey Arnowitz, who wrote his own review of the book March 27 on the Barnesandnoble.com site. "Though the content is completely unfounded nonsense, it has been the cause of thousands of deaths," Arnowitz wrote. "It was even one of Hitler's favorites. No one should contribute to the reproduction of a text such as this, so please join me in boycotting this book."Amazon and Barnes & Noble, which both say they deal with complaints on a case-by-case basis, agreed to post the ADL's disclaimer Wednesday alongside the publisher's review.

'The Protocols' has been a major weapon in the arsenals of anti-Semites around the world, republished and circulated by individuals, hate groups and governments to convince the gullible as well as the bigoted that Jews have schemed and plotted to take over the world," the ADL's posted statement said.

Amazon added its own note that it does not endorse the views expressed in the book or in the publisher's description. Spokeswoman Patty Smith said the company took action to clarify the issue because many viewers thought the favorable review had been written by Amazon. Such decisions are a bookseller's prerogative, argues Michael Froomkin, a professor of law at the University of Miami. "If a non-government bookseller chooses not to carry a book, or to only carry a book with a disclaimer, that's their right in a free society," he said.

Interest groups have been intensifying their scrutiny of offensive material sold online in recent months. Earlier this year, eBay banned the sale of hate material on its site. Last year, the Simon Wiesenthal Center raised questions about the sale of Hitler's manifesto, "Mein Kampf,'' on Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com and Borders.com in Germany. The sites later prohibited such sales in Germany, citing a German law that forbids the sale of Nazi propaganda.

Barnesandnoble.com called the ADL's statement an "informational posting'' and said it consulted a rabbi before agreeing to post it Wednesday. "The book is considered a forgery,'' Barnesandnoble.com representative Gus Carlson said. "In a situation where there is concern over the legitimacy of the book, it is our job to make certain facts clear."

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