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In early [[2008]], another protest against the Church of Scientology was organised by the Internet-based group [[Anonymous (group)|Anonymous]], which originally consisted of users of the English speaking [[imageboard]]s [[4chan]] and 711chan.org, the associated partyvan.info [[wiki]], and several [[Internet Relay Chat]] channels.
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Revision as of 22:32, 25 March 2008

An Internet group that only referred to itself as 'Anonymous' held protests outside Scientology centers in cities around the world in February and March 2008. Issues they protested ranged from alleged abuse of followers to the validity of its tax-exempt status as a church.[1] Members sometimes wore Guy Fawkes masks inspired by the movie V for Vendetta.

Scientology has been involved in a number of disputes on the Internet related to suppressing material critical of Scientology through the use of lawsuits and legal threats. In late 1994, the Church of Scientology began using various legal tactics to stop distribution of unpublished documents written by L. Ron Hubbard. The Church of Scientology is often accused of barratry (or malicious litigation and intimidation). The official church response is that its litigious nature is solely to protect its copyrighted works and the unpublished status of certain documents.[2]

Various critics of the Church of Scientology claim that the church is a scam and that these secretive writings are proof, or that the documents contain evidence that the Church of Scientology's medical practices are illegal and fraudulent. [3][4] Scientology has been convicted of fraud in the courts of several nations, although not those of the United States. Critics have said that the Church of Scientology is abusing copyright law by launching lawsuits against outspoken critics of the organization.[5]

alt.religion.scientology

Welcome to mortal combat between two alien cultures - a flame war with real bullets.

— alt.scientology.war, Wired magazine 3.12, December 1995

The newsgroup alt.religion.scientology was created in 1991 by Scott Goehring, partly as a joke, partly for the purpose of informing the public about Scientology. [6] Debate over the pros and cons of Scientology waxed and waned on the newsgroup through the first three years of its existence, and flame wars were common, as they were on most other newsgroups.

The online battle is generally seen to have begun with the arrival of Dennis Erlich to alt.religion.scientology in mid-1994. A former high-ranking official in the organization who had been personally affiliated with L. Ron Hubbard, Erlich's presence on the newsgroup caused a number of regular participants there to sit up and take notice.[6][7]

The Xenu revelation

On December 24, 1994, the first of a large number of anonymous messages was posted to alt.religion.scientology, containing the text of the "secret" writings of Scientology known as the OT Levels (OT stands for "Operating Thetan"). Included among these postings was OT III (Operating Thetan Level Three), which gave L. Ron Hubbard's description of the "Xenu story." This action brought on the actions of lawyers representing Scientology, who contacted various newsgroup participants and posted warnings demanding that the unauthorized distribution of the OT writings cease. The lawyers described the documents as "copyrighted, trademarked, unpublished trade secrets", and the distribution of the materials as a violation of copyright law and trademark law.[8]

Attempt to remove alt.religion.scientology

On January 11 1995, Church lawyer Helena Kobrin attempted to shut down the Usenet discussion group alt.religion.scientology by sending a control message instructing Usenet servers to delete the group on the grounds that

(1) It was started with a forged message; (2) not discussed on alt.config; (3) it has the name "scientology" in its title which is a trademark and is misleading, as a.r.s. is mainly used for flamers to attack the Scientology religion; (4) it has been and continues to be heavily abused with copyright and trade secret violations and serves no purpose other than condoning these illegal practices.[6][9]

In practice, this rmgroup message had little effect [2], since most Usenet servers are configured to disregard such messages when applied to groups that receive substantial traffic, and newgroup messages were quickly issued for those servers that did not do so. However, the issuance of the message led to a great deal of public criticism of Scientology by free-speech advocates, including hacker group Cult of the Dead Cow, who issued a declaration of war against the Church.[10]

Raids and lawsuits

Shortly after the initial legal announcements and rmgroup attempt, representatives of Scientology followed through with a series of lawsuits against various participants on the newsgroup, including Dennis Erlich. The first raid took place on February 13 1995.[11] Accompanied by Scientology lawyers, federal marshals made several raids on the homes of individuals who were accused of posting Scientology's copyrighted materials to the newsgroup. Raids took place against Arnaldo Lerma (Virginia)[12], Lawrence Wollersheim and Robert Penny of FACTNet (Colorado), and Dennis Erlich (California). Internationally, raids took place against Karin Spaink (The Netherlands) and Zenon Panoussis (Sweden). In addition to filing lawsuits against individuals, Scientology also sued The Washington Post for reprinting one paragraph of the OT writings in a newspaper article, as well as several Internet service providers, including Netcom and XS4ALL. It also regularly demanded the deletion of material from the Deja News archive.

Participants in alt.religion.scientology began using quotes from OT III in particular to publicize the online battle over the secret documents [13]. The story of Xenu was subsequently quoted in many publications, including news reports on CNN[14] and 60 Minutes[15]. It became the most famous reference to the OT levels, to the point where many Internet users who were not intimately familiar with Scientology had heard the story of Xenu, and immediately associated the name with Scientology. The initial strikes against Scientology's critics settled down into a series of legal battles that raged through the courts. The Electronic Frontier Foundation provided legal assistance to several of the defendants, and daily reports of the latest happenings were posted to alt.religion.scientology. The newsgroup's popularity exploded, rocketing it to the ranks of the newsgroups with the heaviest message traffic and the highest number of readers. As the months and years wore on and the lawsuits continued without end, however, a number of participants in the newsgroup grew silent and moved on.

In the wake of the Scientology actions, the Penet remailer, which had been the most popular anonymous remailer in the world until the Scientology "war" took place, was shut down. Johan Helsingius, operator of the remailer, stated that the legal protections afforded him in his country (Finland) were too thin to protect him and he was forced to close down the remailer as a result.[16][17][18]

Scientology's online campaign

After failing to remove the newsgroup, Scientologists adopted a strategy of newsgroup spam and intimidation.[19] Scientologists and hired third parties regularly flood the newsgroup with pro-scientology messages, vague anti-scientology messages, irrelevant comments, and accusations that other posters are secret Scientologists intent on tracking and punishing posters. This makes the newsgroup virtually unreadable via online readers such as Google Groups, although more specialized newsreading software that can filter out all messages by specific "high noise" posters make the newsgroup more usable.[citation needed]

While legal battles were being fought in the courts, an equally intense and aggressive campaign was waged online. The newsgroup alt.religion.scientology found itself at the center of an electronic maelstrom of information and disinformation, as the newsgroup itself was attacked both literally and figuratively. Tens of thousands of junk messages were spammed onto the newsgroup, rendering it nearly unreadable at times when the message "floods" were at their peaks.[19] Over one million sporgery articles were injected into the newsgroup by Scientology management and staff; former Scientology staff member Tory Christman has spoken at length about her involvement in these attacks. Lawyers representing Scientology made public appeals to Internet service providers to remove the newsgroup completely from their news servers. [3] Furthermore, anonymous participants in the newsgroup kept up a steady stream of flame wars and off-topic arguments. Participants on the newsgroup accused Scientology of orchestrating these electronic attacks, though the organization consistently denied any wrongdoing.

In the early days of the World Wide Web, Scientology attempted a similar strategy to make finding websites critical of the organization more difficult. Scientology employed Web designers to write thousands of Web pages for their site, thus flooding early search engines.[20] This problem was solved by the innovation of clustering responses from the same Web server, showing no more than the top two results from any one site (e.g. Google).

Since the inception of the Internet, Scientology has made a policy of using copyright infringement laws to prosecute various Scientology critics posting exposing information on the Web. The Church uses legal pressure combined with blackmail and character assassination to attempt to win many court cases in which it involves itself.[21] On the other side of the battle, many Web-page developers have linked the words "Dianetics" and "Scientology" to Operation Clambake. This resulted in the anti-Scientology site having the highest Google index on the term for a while, which in turn resulted in Scientology persuading Google to remove links to the site[22] until international outcry led to the links being restored. This might be considered an early example of a Google bomb, and certainly has led to interesting questions about the power and obligations of Internet search providers.

In the 1990s Scientology was distributing a special software package for its members to protect them from "unapproved" material about the church. The software is designed to completely block out the newsgroup alt.religion.scientology, various anti-Scientology web sites, and all references to various critics of Scientology. This software package was derided by critics, who accused the organization of censorship and called the program "Scieno Sitter", after the content-control software net-filter program Cyber Sitter. Since no updates have been reported since 1998 (and the original filter program only worked with Windows 95) the package is unlikely to be in use with recent operating systems and browsers due to software rot.[20]

In June 2006, Scientology lawyers sent cease-and-desist letters to Max Goldberg, founder of the website YTMND, asking him to take down all sites that either talked about or mocked Scientology, which had recently become a fad on the site following a popular South Park episode. Goldberg responded by saying that the "claims are completely groundless and I'm not removing anything," adding to the members of the site, "it should only be a matter of time before we're sued out of existence." In response, YTMNDers created yet more sites about Scientology, and these were highlighted on the main page. They also campaigned to Google bomb "The Unfunny Truth About Scientology" site. As of January 2008, no legal action has been taken against YTMND or Goldberg.

In August 2007, MSNBC quoted Associated Press in an article on the Wikipedia Scanner, that computers owned by the Church of Scientology have been removing criticism in the Scientology entry on Wikipedia.[23] A Fox News article also reported that Church of Scientology computers had been used to delete references between Scientology and the Cult Awareness Network, in the article on the Cult Awareness Network on Wikipedia.[24]

Project Chanology

Wikinews has related news:
Main article: Project Chanology

In early 2008, another protest against the Church of Scientology was organised by the Internet-based group Anonymous, which originally consisted of users of the English speaking imageboards 4chan and 711chan.org, the associated partyvan.info wiki, and several Internet Relay Chat channels. Template:Project Chanology summary

Notable legal actions

See also: Scientology and the legal system

A few of the court cases were decided in favor of Scientology, while most of the cases were settled out of court. Noteworthy incidents in the later years of the online war included:

  • Scientology's lawsuit against ex-member Arnaldo Lerma, his provider Digital Gateway, and The Washington Post. Lerma posted the Fishman Affidavit that contained 61 pages of the allegedly trade-secret and copyrighted story of Xenu.[6]
  • Zenon Panoussis, a resident of Sweden, was also sued for posting Scientology's copyrighted materials to the Internet. In his defense, he used a provision of the Constitution of Sweden that guarantees access to public documents. Panoussis turned over a copy of the NOTs documents to the office of the Swedish Parliament and, by law, copies of all documents (with few exceptions) received by authorities are available for anyone from the public to see, at any time he or she wishes. This, known as the Principle of Public Access (Offentlighetsprincipen), is considered a basic civil right in Sweden. The case, however, was decided against Panoussis. The results of his case sparked a legal firestorm in Sweden that debated the necessity of re-writing part of the Constitution.[25][26]
  • In 1995 Scientology caused a raid on the servers of Dutch Internet provider XS4ALL and sued it and Karin Spaink for copyright violations arising from publishing excerpts from confidential materials of Scientology. There followed a summary judgment in 1995, full proceedings in 1999, an appeal in 2003[27][28] which has been upheld by the Supreme Court of Netherlands in December 2005, all in favor of the provider and Karin Spaink.[29]
  • Dennis Erlich and Scientology settled their lawsuits. Erlich withdrew from the online battle entirely, and all mention of him was removed from Church of Scientology material.[6][21][30]
  • Activist Keith Henson was sued for posting a portion of Scientology's writings to the Internet. Henson defended himself in court without a lawyer, while at the same time he carried out protests and pickets against Scientology. The court found that Henson had committed copyright infringement, and the damage award against Henson was immense: $75,000, an amount which Scientology said was the largest damages ever awarded against an individual for copyright infringement. Henson's case became increasingly more complex and ongoing, with a misdemeanor conviction of interfering with religion in Riverside County, California. In his Internet writings, Henson said that he was forced to flee the United States and seek asylum in Canada due to ongoing threats against him.[31][6]
  • Scientology is one of the first organizations to make use of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). In June 1999, Scientology used the controversial law to force AT&T Worldnet to reveal the identity of a person who had been posting anonymously to alt.religion.scientology with the pseudonym of "Safe".[32]
  • In March 2001, legal threats from Scientology lawyers forced Slashdot to remove text from one of its discussion boards, after an excerpt from OT III was posted there. Slashdot noted this as the first time a comment had to be removed from its system due to copyright concerns, and retaliated by posting a list of links to anti-Scientology websites.[32]
  • The organization also used the DMCA to force the Google search engine to erase its entries on the controversial anti-Scientology Web site Operation Clambake in March 2002, though the entry was reinstated after Google received a large number of complaints from Internet users. The publicity stemming from this incident lead Google to begin submitting DMCA takedown notices it received to the Chilling Effects archive, which archives legal threats of all sorts made against Internet users and Internet sites.[33][34]
  • In September 2002, lawyers for Scientology contacted Internet Archive (archive.org), the administrators of the Wayback Machine and asserted copyright claims on certain materials archived as historical contents of the Operation Clambake site. In response, the Wayback Machine administration removed the archive of the entire Clambake site, initially posting a false claim that the site's author had requested its removal. This claim has been removed but (as of February 2008) the site still returns a "Blocked Site Error" from the Wayback archive.[34]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ L.A. takes part in Scientology protests, Los Angeles Times, February 11, 2008.
  2. ^ Freedom Magazine, Vol 27, Issue 4: An open letter from the Church of Scientology
  3. ^ See for instance Jacobsen, Jeff. "Medical claims within Scientology's secret teachings", 1996
  4. ^ O'Connor, Mike. "How Scientology claims to cure physical illness", 2003
  5. ^ For instance, see Hausherr, Tilman. "NOTS34: criminality successfully protected by copyright law", 1998; Wachter, Kristi. "'Handling a physical condition' with the NOTs"
  6. ^ a b c d e f Grossman, Wendy. "Copyright Terrorists". Net. Wars. New York: New York University Press. pp. 77–78. ISBN 0-8147-3103-1. Retrieved 2006-06-11. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |origmonth= ignored (help)
  7. ^ Grossman, Wendy M. (2005). "alt.scientology.war" (3.12). Wired magazine. pp. p.3. Retrieved 2007-07-19. His critical posts, with quotations from the church literature, turned alt.religion.scientology from debating club to battlefield. {{cite web}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  8. ^ Prendergast, Alan (1995-10-04). "Hunting rabbits, serving spam: The net under siege". Denver Westword. Village Voice Media. Retrieved 2008-03-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ [1]
  10. ^ Swamp Ratte. "Statement Concerning the 'Church' of Scientology." CULT OF THE DEAD COW Press Release, June 4, 1995. Retrieved June 14, 2006.
  11. ^ The Church of Scientology vs. Dennis Erlich, Tom Klemesrud & Netcom
  12. ^ Ryan, Nick (2000-03-23). "The gospel of the web". Technology. The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-10-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ Roland Rashleigh-Berry. "The XENU Leaflet" (download in various formats). Operation Clambake.
  14. ^ "Church of Scientology protects secrets on the Internet". CNN. August 26, 1995.
  15. ^ "Transcript of CBS' "60 Minutes"". Operation Clambake.
  16. ^ The Church of Scientology vs. anon.penet.fi
  17. ^ Prendergast, Alan (1995-10-04). "Stalking the Net". Denver Westword News. Village Voice Media. Retrieved 2008-01-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ Helmers, Sabine (1997-09-01). "A Brief History of anon.penet.fi". CMC Magazine. Retrieved 2008-01-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ a b Jones, Colman (1996-07-04). "Freedom Flames Out on the 'Net - Who launched the largest-ever sabotage of the Internet?". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2006-12-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ a b Brown, Janelle (1998-07-15). "A Web of their own". Salon. Salon.com. Retrieved 2006-06-21.
  21. ^ a b Freedom Magazine, Vol 27, Issue 4: A Crime By Any Other Name. See "Dennis Erlich: Copyright Terrorist". (Archived January 16th, 1999.)
  22. ^ Matt Loney (2002-03-21). "Google pulls anti-Scientology links". CNet. Retrieved 2006-12-12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ New online tool traces Wikipedia edits: PCs in Scientology officialdom removed criticism in church's entry, MSNBC, Associated Press, Brian Bergstein, August 15, 2007
  24. ^ Wal-Mart, CIA, ExxonMobil Changed Wikipedia Entries, August 16, 2007, Fox News, Rhys Blakely, Fox News Network, LLC.
  25. ^ Macavinta, Courtney (1998-09-15). "Short Take: Scientologists win Net court case". CNET. Retrieved 2007-08-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  26. ^ Macavinta, Courtney (1999-03-30). "Scientologists settle legal battle". CNET. Retrieved 2007-08-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  27. ^ Hines, Matt (2003-09-08). "Scientology loss keeps hyperlinks legal". CNET. Retrieved 2007-08-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  28. ^ Libbenga, Jan (2003-09-08). "Scientologists loses copyright case". The Register. Retrieved 2007-08-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  29. ^ Final Victory! XS4ALL and Karin Spaink Win Scientology Battle, Press Release, December 16, 2005
  30. ^ Freedom Magazine, Vol 27, Issue 4: A Crime By Any Other Name. Redacted version.
  31. ^ Zapler, Mike (2007-07-07). "Scientology critic seeks pardon". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 2007-08-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  32. ^ a b Goodin, Dan (1999-06-03). "Scientology subpoenas Worldnet". CNET. Retrieved 2007-08-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) Cite error: The named reference "”UnSafe”" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  33. ^ Google Begins Making DMCA Takedowns Public
  34. ^ a b Bowman, Lisa M. (2002-09-24). "Net archive silences Scientology critic". CNET. Retrieved 2007-09-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Further reading

External links

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