Arguments wrapped up, Monday afternoon, in a precedent-setting case on the kind of information allowed on the Internet, even though the defendant's lawyer refused to take part.

The Canadian Human Rights Commission tribunal has been hearing arguments in the case against well-known Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel since 1997.

It concerns content on a Web site that questions the facts surrounding the Holocaust during the Second World War.

Zundel has refused to attend the hearings. And his lawyer, Doug Christie, didn't show up for closing arguments Monday, saying the tribunal has no jurisdiction over his client's California-based Web site.

But Mark Freiman, a lawyer for the commission, said the tribunal has jurisdiction because the Web site has been accessed in Canada.

The site contains information that Toronto's committee on community and race relations, among others, says could expose Jews to hatred or contempt on the basis of their race, religion, and ethnic origin.

Among the material available on the site is a section called "Did Six Million Really Die?"

A shouting match broke out in the hallway during a break in the proceedings Monday as tensions between the two sides heated up. A small group of Zundel supporters challenged comments made by a representative of B'nai Brith.

"Why can't we debate the Holocaust?" asked one of Zundel's supporters.

The case is being tried under Section 13 of the Canada Human Rights Act, and hinges partly on whether communicating over the Internet is "telephonic" or not.

"This is a precedent-setting case because from here on at least both the police and the human rights authorities will know whether or not this particular section will apply to the Internet," says Bernie Farber, executive director of the Canadian Jewish Congress, which has intervenor status in the case.

Zundel's lawyers say the Internet is interactive and allows people to easily and effectively rebut information. They have argued that the Web site doesn't disseminate hate, it allows open a free debate.

That argument doesn't wash with Farber. "You can say hateful things and people can respond, but the hate is still there and it still has to be assessed," he says.

Zundel was stripped of his Canadian citizenship and fled to the United States a few months ago. He is believed to be living in Tennessee.