The lack of any mention of these chats in any historical literature I can find is also suspicious. I could imagine the transcripts being lost until now, but if indeed Ronald Reagan, Edward Said, and Jane Fonda had an ARPANet chat in 1975, I would've expected to be able to find at least one person having mentioned it!
Additional reason: the supposed discoverers are media artists, and this project was presented at a new-media art festival, rather than, say, a history conference (and no mention of how the transcripts may have been unearthed, or from where). Feels very much like a media-art project.
Another objection: it's 1976. Would these folks have even known how to type? Governor Reagan wouldn't be complaining about the difficulty of typing, he'd have one of his secretaries come in and type while he dictates.
Also also, I just don't see Ronald Reagan agreeing to take time out to chat with Edward Said and Hanoi Jane at all.
I think it's fiction and attempts to be an art piece. It's presented at galleries, not in museums. Vol II mentions: "Featuring guest collaborator Khwezi Gule, a curator, artist and writer" (emphasis mine). Also all other people working on the site seem to be artists, not historians or techies.
Why they can't mention that somewhere on the page is beyond me.
It reads like a terrible script from one of those "House on the Hill" type of movies. I keep waiting for the evil mastermind to introduce himself and explain why he's brought everyone together.
And, at the same time, it also sounds a whole lot like every chat and message board I've ever been in.
