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== Corporation ==
== Corporation ==
Landmark Worldwide LLC was founded in January 1991 by several of the presenters of a predecessor training program known as "The Forum".{{sfn|Pressman|1993|p=254}} Landmark purchased the intellectual property rights to The Forum from [[Werner Erhard and Associates]] and used that as the basis for its foundation course named "The Landmark Forum", which has been further updated over the years. It has since developed a number of training courses and seminar programs throughout the world.
===History===
{{Undue-section|date=January 2015}}
The Landmark Forum, its direct predecessors the Forum, est (Erhard Seminars Training) and its other, related, iterations have been proffered by a continuum of various companies beginning with the founding of Erhard Seminars Training, Inc. by Werner Erhard in the early 1970s.<ref>See:
*{{harv|Anderson|2007|p=413}};
*{{harv|Atkin|2004|p=101}};
*{{harv|Boulware|2000|p=38}};
*{{harv|Colman|2009|pp=260, 412}};
*{{harv|Eisner|2000|p=60}};
*{{harv|Gastil|2010|pp=226–227}};
*{{harv|Grigoriadis|2001}};
*{{harv|Hukill|1998}};
*{{sfn|Marshall|1997}};
*{{harv|McClure|2009}};
*{{harv|Saliba|2003|p=88}};
*{{harv|Scioscia|2000}}.</ref> Erhard had no formal training in psychology or psychiatry and had previously been an encyclopedia salesman, who became involved with Zen Buddhism, Scientology and Mind Dynamics.<ref>See:
*{{harv|Koocher and Keith-Spiegel|2008|p=151}};
*{{harv|Paris|2013|p=20}};
*{{harv|Goldwag|2009|p=29}};
*{{harv|Jones|2003}}
*{{harv|Kornbluth|1976|pp=29-52}};
*{{harv|Marshall|1997}};
*{{harv|Rolfe|2008}}.</ref> This brought about the idea of starting an organization to promote his vision of human transformation, which he entitled est (both for the Latin "it is" and as an acronym for Erhard Seminars Training). Before leaving his position at Mind Dynamics, Erhard considered setting up est as a church,{{sfn|Lockwood|2011|p=229}}{{sfn|Bartley|1978|pp=176–177}} but instead opted to go with a for-profit, complex web of onshore and offshore shell companies and bank accounts. These were set up by the "controversial" corporate attorney Harry Margolis.{{sfn|Bartley|1978|pp=176–177}}{{sfn|Pressman|1993|pp=48–50, 88}}


The corporation was originally registered as Transnational Education and changed its name to Landmark Education Corporation in May 1991.{{sfn|CASS staff|2003}} In June 2003 it was re-structured as Landmark Education LLC,{{sfn|CASS staff|1987}} and in July 2013 renamed Landmark Worldwide LLC. Landmark is a "for-profit company 100% owned by approximately 530 employees through an [[Employee Stock Ownership Plan]] (ESOP) and similar international plans. The organization's executive team reports to a Board of Directors that is elected annually by the ESOP."{{sfn|Landmark staff|2014a}} In addition, its subsidiary, the Vanto Group, focuses on marketing and delivering training and consultation services to corporate clients and other organizations.{{sfn|Landmark press release|2008}}
A shell company controlled by Margolis, Saratoga Restaurant Equipment Co., was transformed into Erhard Seminars Training Inc. Erhard sold his intellectual rights (which Erhard and Landmark call the "technology") to a Panamanian company protected by Panama's secrecy laws and run on Erhard's behalf by Margolis. The Panamanian entity, Presentaciones Musicales S.A., in turn licensed the "technology" and Erhard's services to Erhard Seminars Training Inc. for $1 million.{{sfn|Pressman|1993|pp=48–50}}{{sfn|Gordon|1978|p=52}} In turn, Erhard Seminars Training Inc. raised the money for licensing the intellectual property from a Nevada shell company set up by Erhard's lawyer.{{sfn|Gordon|1978|p=52}} Later, Erhard's employment contract at a very modest salary was transferred to Erhard Seminars Training Inc., making it appear as though neither he nor Erhard Seminars Training Inc. were garnering much financially, while profits were siphoned off through various maneuvers to Erhard's offshore companies and accounts. As Erhard had no direct ownership of Erhard Seminars Training Inc., the setup allowed the company to tout Erhard as a simple employee who was compensated very modestly (at $30,000 per year).{{sfn|Pressman|1993|pp=48–50, 88}} As the corporate staff expanded, Erhard hired Scientologists to create a program (the "Well Being Department") to monitor and motivate employees and volunteers.{{sfn|Kornbluth|1976|pp=29-52}}{{sfn|Pressman|1993|pp=65, 125–126, 129}}


According to Landmark, Werner Erhard (creator of the ''est'' training which ran from 1971 to 1984 and from which Werner Erhard and Associates' "The Forum" was derived<ref>See:
After Erhard's attorney was indicted for irregularities involving his tax shelter schemes, Erhard and Margolis went about restructuring the company as a non-profit.{{sfn|Gardner|2007}} In 1979, Erhard Seminars Training, Inc. was dissolved, replaced by a non-profit charitable foundation named 'est, An Educational Corporation'. Erhard's official salary at the new company was raised to $48,000 (plus a separate profit-sharing deal). At the same time, ownership of Erhard's intellectual property held by Presentaciones Musicales, was transferred to a new entity in the Netherlands named Welbehagen. Welbehagen, in turn, licensed rights to present the seminars to est, An Educational Corporation at an even higher price, generating additional tax write-offs. Another entity, The Werner Erhard Charitable Settlement, was set up on the Isle of Jersey and given ownership of est, An Educational Corporation. Meanwhile, a Swiss corporation, the Werner Erhard Foundation for est, was set up and control of Welbehagen was assigned to it.{{sfn|Pressman|1993|pp=48–50, 88}}
*{{harv|Lockwood|2011|pp=225–254}};

*{{harv|Grigoriadis|9 July 2001}};
In 1977, Erhard set up the non-profit charitable "Hunger Project" (later retitled "Making a Difference"), funding it with a $400,000 loan and a $100,000 charitable grant from the est Foundation. The goal was to end hunger, first in the U.S. and then worldwide within 20 years.{{sfn|Gordon|1978|pp=42, 44}} The Hunger Project was used to heavily promote est seminars to donors, volunteers. Est also held seminars on the Hunger Project in which the entire proceeds went to est itself.{{sfn|Gordon|1978|pp=42, 50}} Despite raising some $67 million between 1977 and 1989, the project contributed less than $2 million to programs that directly addressed hunger, with the remaining funds remaining in the Erhard network of corporations and trusts.{{sfn|Pressman|1993|pp=157, 165–167}}{{sfn|Grigoriadis|2001}}
*{{harv|Eisner|2000|p=60}};

*{{harv|Ramstedt|2007|p=196}};
By 1981, Erhard decided to simplify the complicated structure of overseas companies and charitable trusts that controlled the tangle of est-related entities and funneled moneys generated by est to offshore accounts. Again, Harry Margolis was used to set up a new scheme whereby a new entity, Werner Erhard and Associates with Erhard as sole proprietor, purchased the assets of the various dummy corporations and charities. This was arranged through a series of "phoney" loans funneled through various Erhard and Margolis friends, trusts and offshore entities. The scheme allowed the new Werner Erhard and Associates entity to claim large tax deductions (which were later disallowed), and to show net operating losses, from a sale that was essentially Erhard buying the assets of a business that he already controlled with the proceeds flowing back to Erhard's offshore accounts.{{sfn|Pressman|1993|pp=157, 165–167}}
*{{harv|Atkin|2004|p=101}};

*{{harv|Saliba|2003|p=88}}.</ref>) consults from time to time with Landmark's research and design team.{{sfn|Faltermayer|24 June 2001}}
In 1984, Erhard launched a new company, named Transformational Technologies, to market est-based motivational courses and consulting services to corporations and government entities.{{sfn|Rupert|1992}} In its first 18 months, Transformational Technologies licensed over 50 franchises at a $25,000 upfront licensing fee with a percentage of licensees' revenues going to Erhard.{{sfn|Pressman|1993|pp=217–218}}

Erhard had experimented with a modified version of est as early as 1983. By 1985, faced with increasing controversy and drastically falling recruitment numbers, Erhard replaced the est seminars a slightly modified and less authoritarian program which he "rebranded" as The Forum.<ref> See:
*{{harv|Conway and Siegelman|1995|p=17}};
*{{harv|Goldwag|2009|p=29}};
*{{harv|Grigoriadis|2001}};
*{{harv|Richardson|1998|pp=167–169}}.</ref> A series of follow-up seminars was introduced at the same time. Minor adjustments (less hectoring of those who wanted bathroom breaks, more comfortable chairs, brief meal breaks, etc.) were made to est under its new title, though the methods, purposes and format were largely the same.{{sfn|Hukill|1998}}{{sfn|Jones|2003}} Later, managers realized that significant revenue was being generated from signing up participants for the follow-up courses, so the duration of the intitial course was reduced from 6 days to 3 days so as to enable seminar presenters to hold more initial seminars during the same time period, consequently increase the sign-ups for the higher-priced follow-up courses, and market The Forum to the acquaintances of an increased number of new participants. The price of the initial seminars was also reduced to attract more initial recruits without increasing the number of Forum leaders.{{sfn|Pressman|1993|pp=212–214, 244–245}}

By 1990, Werner Erhard and Associates was faced with lawsuits, tax fraud investigations (later dropped), a flood of bad press and declining enrollments.{{sfn|Hukill|1998}} Erhard decided that the time had come to leave the U.S. and began liquidating his properties and shipping valuables overseas.{{sfn|Pressman|1993|pp=245–246, 254–255}} Yet another corporate change was explored in which Erhard would sell assets of Werner Erhard and Associates and Werner Erhard and Associates International to yet another new entity.{{sfn|Hellard|2006}} In early 1991, Erhard fired Werner Erhard and Associates CEO Don Cox, who had been urging radical changes in the way the company was being run and making overtures to buy an interest in Werner Erhard and Associates, and replaced him with his own brother Harry Rosenberg. A company named Transnational Education Corporation was set up, consisting of a few family members and top Erhard loyalists headed by Erhard's brother Harry Rosenberg.{{sfn|Hukill|1998}} Transnational Education Corporation acquired various assets of Werner Erhard and Associates and Werner Erhard on 31 January 1991. As with some of the previous iterations of the company, Erhard had no direct ownership of the new entity, but retained control of the intellectual property on which the Forum and other courses were based. He also retained rights to run the Forum operations in Japan (which accounted for 70% of Werner Erhard & Associates International's revenue) and Mexico (where real estate was also retained by Erhard).{{sfn|Grigoriadis|2001}}{{sfn|Pressman|1993|pp=254–255}} Certain valuable properties owned by Werner Erhard and Associates were also retained by Erhard as part of the changeover. Erhard licensed the rights to hold the Forum and other courses based in Erhard's intellectual property to Transnational Education Corporation for a period of 15 years in exchange for an up-front payment of $3 million and license royalties for the remainder of the contract.{{sfn|Hukill|1998}} These amounts were not directly paid to Erhard, but rather to his overseas corporations and trusts. One of these trusts was ostensibly to repay creditors, the chief of which was a large tax-avoidance circular loan to himself (ruled, and later upheld, as a disallowed tax deduction) which Erhard had used in acquiring the assets of his own offshore shell companies during the 1981 formation of Werner Erhard and Associates.{{sfn|Pressman|1993|pp=254–255}} The offices of Werner Erhard and Associates and its seminars continued operations with much of the same staff under the new name.{{sfn|Marshall|1997}}{{sfn|Pressman|1993|pp=245–246, 254–255}} Transnational Education Corporation later changed its name to Landmark Education Corporation in May 1991. In June 2004, the company was reorganized into a limited liability company, Landmark Education LLC, and subsequently renamed to Landmark Worldwide LLC in 2013.{{sfn|Pressman|1993|pp=245–246, 254–255}}

Landmark has claimed that it has never paid royalties to Erhard.{{sfn|Landmark (Art Schreiber)|2005|pp=3–4}} This may superficially be correct, as the payments were paid to Erhard's corporations and trusts, rather than directly to Erhard himself.{{sfn|Pressman|1993|pp=254–255}} Alternatively, Landmark has also claimed that royalties were indeed paid to Erhard and passed through to pay off Erhard's creditors.{{sfn|Bauder|1994}} Landmark CEO Rosenberg has claimed that Erhard's rights on the intellectual property on which the Forum and other courses are based was purchased by 2002, though no documentation for this was offered.{{sfn|Grigoriadis|2001}}{{sfn|Salerno|2010}}

While Erhard has maintained a degree of relationship with Landmark and has appeared at company events, in addition to his interest in royalty payments, Landmark has insistently denied that he has any involvement with the current business and downplayed historical connection to Erhard and est.<ref>See:
*{{harv|Faltermayer|2001}};
*{{harv|Grigoriadis|2001}};
*{{harv|Hukill|1998}};
*{{harv|Jones|2003}};
*{{harv|McClure|2009}};
*{{harv|Landmark (Art Schreiber)|2005|pp=3–4}};
*{{harv|Scioscia|2000}}.</ref> Landmark has also acknowledged that Erhard has continued as a consultant to the company.{{sfn|Faltermayer|2001}} It has also denied any direct connection between its programs and Erhard's est and Forum,{{sfn|Lockwood|2011|p=227}}{{sfn|Landmark (Art Schreiber)|2005|pp=3–4}} even though it directly took over the Forum operations in 1991,{{sfn|Pressman|1993|pp=245–246, 254–255}} continued to pay licensing royalties for Erhard's intellectual property,{{sfn|Landmark (Harry Rosenberg)|1996|p=9}} claims to have outright purchased the rights to Erhard's intellectual property by 2002,{{sfn|Salerno|2010}} has included Erhard's est and Forum statistics in its own historical participant statistics,{{sfn|Landmark staff|2002b}} and engages Erhard as consultant.{{sfn|Faltermayer|2001}}{{sfn|Farber|2012|p=131}}

Landmark's foundation course, "The Landmark Forum", has been further updated over the years. It has since developed a lot of training courses and seminar programs throughout tens of countries around the world.

The corporation was originally registered as Transnational Education and changed its name to Landmark Education Corporation in May 1991.{{sfn|CASS staff|2003}} In June 2003 it was re-structured as Landmark Education LLC,{{sfn|CASS staff|1987}} and in July 2013 renamed Landmark Worldwide LLC.

[[Terry Giles]] is Chairman of the Board and Erhard's lawyer.{{sfn|Dewan|3 May 2010}}

===Current operations===

According to Landmark it is a "for-profit company 100% owned by approximately 530 employees through an [[Employee Stock Ownership Plan]] (ESOP) and similar international plans. The organization's executive team reports to a Board of Directors that is elected annually by the ESOP."{{sfn|Landmark staff|2014a}} In addition, its subsidiary, the Vanto Group, focuses on marketing and delivering training and consultation services to corporate clients and other organizations.{{sfn|Landmark press release|2008}}


;Business consulting
;Business consulting
Vanto Group, Inc., founded in 1993 as "Landmark Education Business Development" (LEBD), a wholly owned subsidiary of Landmark Worldwide Enterprises, Inc., uses the techniques of Landmark to provide consulting services to various companies. The [[University of Southern California]] (USC) [[Marshall School of Business]] carried out a [[case study]] in 1998 into the work of LEBD with [[New Zealand Steel|BHP New Zealand Steel]]. The report concluded that the set of interventions in the organization produced a 50% improvement in safety, a 15% to 20% reduction in key benchmark costs, a 50% increase in [[return on capital]], and a 20% increase in raw steel production.{{sfn|Logan|1998|p=}} LEBD became the Vanto Group in 2008.{{sfn|Landmark press release|2008}}
Vanto Group, Inc., founded in 1993 as "Landmark Education Business Development" (LEBD), a wholly owned subsidiary of Landmark Worldwide Enterprises, Inc., uses the techniques of Landmark to provide consulting services to various companies. The [[University of Southern California]] (USC) [[Marshall School of Business]] carried out a [[case study]] in 1998 into the work of LEBD with [[New Zealand Steel|BHP New Zealand Steel]]. The report concluded that the set of interventions in the organization produced a 50% improvement in safety, a 15% to 20% reduction in key benchmark costs, a 50% increase in [[return on capital]], and a 20% increase in raw steel production.{{sfn|Logan|1998|p=}} LEBD became the Vanto Group in 2008.{{sfn|Landmark press release|2008}}

Companies such as [[Panda Express]] and [[Lululemon Athletica]] pay for and encourage employees to take part in The Landmark Forum.{{sfn|Businessweek|18 November 2010|p=}}{{sfn|Sacks|1 April 2009|p=}}


;Licensing intellectual property
;Licensing intellectual property
Line 113: Line 61:
*{{harv|McCrone|1 February 2008}};
*{{harv|McCrone|1 February 2008}};
*{{harv|Odasso|5 June 2008}}.</ref>
*{{harv|Odasso|5 June 2008}}.</ref>

Companies such as [[Panda Express]] and [[Lululemon Athletica]] pay for and encourage employees to take part in The Landmark Forum.{{sfn|Businessweek|18 November 2010|p=}}{{sfn|Sacks|1 April 2009|p=}}


==Religious characteristics==
==Religious characteristics==
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*{{harv|Beckford|2003|p=156}};
*{{harv|Beckford|2003|p=156}};
*{{harv|Partridge|2004|p=406}};
*{{harv|Partridge|2004|p=406}};
*{{harv|Arweck|2005|pp=123–124}};
*{{harv|Lewis|2005|pp=123–124}}.</ref> including a lack of religious elements in the programs and the compatibility of the programs with existing religions.<ref>See:
*{{harv|Lewis|2005|pp=123–124}}.</ref> including a lack of religious elements in the programs and the compatibility of the programs with existing religions.<ref>See:
*{{harv|benPorat|April 2006|pp=42–44}};
*{{harv|benPorat|April 2006|pp=42–44}};
*{{harv|Cannon|2007}};
*{{harv|Cannon|2007}};
*{{harv|Lazarus|11 April 2008}}.</ref> Others, such as Chryssides, classify Landmark as either quasi-religious or secular with some elements of religion.<ref>See:
*{{harv|Lazarus|11 April 2008}}.</ref> Others, such as Chryssides, classify Landmark as either quasi-religious or secular with some elements of religion (although various scholars have disputed this characterization).<ref>See:
*{{harv|Beckford et al., eds.|2007|pp=229, 687}};
*{{harv|Beckford et al., eds.|2007|pp=229, 687}};
*{{harv|Chryssides|1999|p=314}};
*{{harv|Chryssides|1999|p=314}};
*{{harv|Bromley|2007|p=48}}.
*{{harv|Bromley|2007|p=48}}.
</ref> Landmark has denied that it is a religion, cult or sect,{{sfn|Puttick|2004|pp=406–407}} and "freely threatens or pursues lawsuits against those who call it [a cult]".{{sfn|Scioscia|2000}}
</ref> A number of newspaper articles have noted that the Forum has been labeled "cult-like" (although various scholars have disputed this characterization).<ref>See:
*{{harv|ABC News staff|2008}};
*{{harv|Bass|1999}};
*{{harv|Mullally and Burke|2005|p=N1}};
*{{harv|Rayman|2008}}
*{{harv|Scioscia|2000}};
*{{harv|D'Souza|2008|p=12§Features}}.</ref><ref>See:
*{{harv|Chryssides|1999|pp=229, 687}}
*{{harv|Goldwag|2009|pp=29–30}}
*{{harv|Sharot|2011|p=182}}.</ref> Landmark has denied that it is a religion, cult or sect,{{sfn|Puttick|2004|pp=406–407}} and "freely threatens or pursues lawsuits against those who call it [a cult]".{{sfn|Scioscia|2000}}


Journalist Amelia Hill with ''[[The Observer]]'' witnessed the Landmark Forum and concluded that, in her view, it is not religious or a cult. Hill wrote, "It is ... simple common sense delivered in an environment of startling intensity." Karin Badt from ''[[The Huffington Post]]'' criticized the organisation's emphasis on "'spreading the word' of the Landmark forum as a sign of the participants' 'integrity'" in recounting her personal experience of an introductory "Landmark Forum" course, but noted, "at the end of the day, I found the Forum innocuous. No cult, no radical religion: an inspiring, entertaining introduction of good solid techniques of self-reflection, with an appropriate emphasis on action and transformation (not change)".{{sfn|Badt|5 March 2008}}
Journalist Amelia Hill with ''[[The Observer]]'' witnessed the Landmark Forum and concluded that, in her view, it is not religious or a cult. Hill wrote, "It is ... simple common sense delivered in an environment of startling intensity." Karin Badt from ''[[The Huffington Post]]'' criticized the organisation's emphasis on "'spreading the word' of the Landmark forum as a sign of the participants' 'integrity'" in recounting her personal experience of an introductory "Landmark Forum" course, but noted, "at the end of the day, I found the Forum innocuous. No cult, no radical religion: an inspiring, entertaining introduction of good solid techniques of self-reflection, with an appropriate emphasis on action and transformation (not change)".{{sfn|Badt|5 March 2008}}
Line 178: Line 118:
{{refbegin|30em}}
{{refbegin|30em}}
*{{cite web |author=ABC News staff |title=Defence workers trained by 'cult' |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/02/2205464.htm?section=australia |website=ABC News |publisher=ABC (Australia) |location=Sydney, NSW |accessdate=29 January 2015 |ref={{sfnRef|ABC News staff|2008}} }}
*{{cite web |author=ABC News staff |title=Defence workers trained by 'cult' |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/02/2205464.htm?section=australia |website=ABC News |publisher=ABC (Australia) |location=Sydney, NSW |accessdate=29 January 2015 |ref={{sfnRef|ABC News staff|2008}} }}

*{{cite journal |author=A&K staff |title=Irrationalism, mysticism och ockultism: Landmark Education lägger ned verksamheten |journal=Tidskriften Analys & Kritik |publisher=University of Zurich and University of Düsseldorf |date=8 June 2004 |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070818150218/http://www.analyskritik.press.se/irrationalism/irrationalism.htm |language=German |issn=0171-5860 |accessdate=23 January 2015 |ref=CITEREFAnalys&Kritik8_June_2004 }}


*{{cite news |last=Alford |first=Henry |title=You're O.K., But I'm Not. Let's Share |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/28/fashion/28Landmark.html |newspaper=New York Times |location=New York |date=26 November 2010 |accessdate=14 March 2011|ref=CITEREFAlford26_November_2010 }}
*{{cite news |last=Alford |first=Henry |title=You're O.K., But I'm Not. Let's Share |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/28/fashion/28Landmark.html |newspaper=New York Times |location=New York |date=26 November 2010 |accessdate=14 March 2011|ref=CITEREFAlford26_November_2010 }}


*{{cite book |last=Anderson |first=Kurt |editor1-first=Lillian |editor1-last=Ross |title=The Fun of It: Stories from The Talk of the Town; The New Yorker |year=2007 |publisher=Vintage Books/Random House |location=New York |isbn=0375756493 |chapter=Son of EST: The Terminator of Self-Doubt |ref=harv }}
*{{cite book |last=Anderson |first=Kurt |editor1-first=Lillian |editor1-last=Ross |title=The Fun of It: Stories from The Talk of the Town; The New Yorker |year=2007 |publisher=Vintage Books/Random House |location=New York |isbn=0375756493 |chapter=Son of EST: The Terminator of Self-Doubt |ref=harv }}

*{{cite book |last=Arweck |first=Elisabeth |title=Researching New Religious Movements |publisher=Routledge |year=2005 |isbn=0415277558 |ref=harv }}


*{{cite book |last=Atkin |first=Douglas |title=The Culting of Brands: Turn Your Customers Into True Believers |publisher=Penguin/Portfolio |location=New York |year=2004 |isbn=9781591840275 |chapter=What Is Required of a Belief System? |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |last=Atkin |first=Douglas |title=The Culting of Brands: Turn Your Customers Into True Believers |publisher=Penguin/Portfolio |location=New York |year=2004 |isbn=9781591840275 |chapter=What Is Required of a Belief System? |ref=harv}}
Line 204: Line 140:


*{{cite book |editor1-first=James A. |editor1-last=Beckford |editor1-link=James A. Beckford |editor2-first=Jay |editor2-last=Demerath |title=The SAGE Handbook of the Sociology of Religion |year=2007 |publisher=SAGE |location=London |isbn=9781412911955 |ref={{sfnRef|Beckford et al., eds.|2007}} }}
*{{cite book |editor1-first=James A. |editor1-last=Beckford |editor1-link=James A. Beckford |editor2-first=Jay |editor2-last=Demerath |title=The SAGE Handbook of the Sociology of Religion |year=2007 |publisher=SAGE |location=London |isbn=9781412911955 |ref={{sfnRef|Beckford et al., eds.|2007}} }}

*{{cite news |last=Ben Porat |first=Shahar |title=Teacher of the Confused |newspaper=Time Out |location=Israel |date=April 2006 |ref=CITEREFbenPoratApril_2006 }}

*{{cite journal |last=Bodek |first=Norman |date=1984–1985 |title= |journal=ReVision: The Journal of Consciousness and Change |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages= |location=Sebastopol, California |publisher=Revision: Society for the Study of Shamanism, Healing, and Transformation |issn=2041-9511 |ref=CITEREFBodek1984–1985 }}

*{{cite book |last=Boulware |first=Jack |title=San Francisco Bizarro |publisher=Macmillan/St. Martins |location=New York |year=2000 |isbn=0312206712 |ref=harv }}


*{{cite book |last=Bromley |first=David G. |authorlink=David G. Bromley |title=Teaching New Religious Movements |year=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford and New York |isbn=9780195177299 |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |last=Bromley |first=David G. |authorlink=David G. Bromley |title=Teaching New Religious Movements |year=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford and New York |isbn=9780195177299 |ref=harv}}
Line 216: Line 146:


*{{cite news |author=BusinessWeek staff |url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_48/b4205098143983.htm |publisher=Bloomberg |website=Businessweek |title=General Tso, Meet Steven Covey |accessdate=2011-03-14 |date=18 November 2010 |ref=CITEREFBusinessweek18_November_2010 }}
*{{cite news |author=BusinessWeek staff |url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_48/b4205098143983.htm |publisher=Bloomberg |website=Businessweek |title=General Tso, Meet Steven Covey |accessdate=2011-03-14 |date=18 November 2010 |ref=CITEREFBusinessweek18_November_2010 }}

*{{Cite thesis |last=Cannon |first=Patrick Owen |title=Communication for Planetary Transformation and the Drag of Public Conversations: The Case of Landmark Education Corporation |type=dissertation |year=2007 |url=http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/654/ |publisher=University of South Florida Graduate Theses and Dissertations |accessdate=26 January 2010 |ref=harv}}

*{{cite web |author=Case Financial |url=http://www.secinfo.com/dRqWm.5wzh.htm |title=Case Financial SEC filing |website=secinfo.com |date=2000a |publisher=Fran Finnegan & Company |accessdate=22 October 2008 |ref={{sfnRef|Case Financial|2000a}} }}

*{{cite web |author=Case Financial |url=http://www.scribd.com/doc/264175/2000-Terry-M-Giles-Owner-Tekniko-Licensing-Corporation |title=Pacific Biometrics, Filings Form SB-2 |year=2000b |website=Scribd |accessdate=23 October 2008 |ref={{sfnRef|Case Financial|2000b}} }}


*{{cite web |author=CASS staff |url=http://kepler.ss.ca.gov/corpdata/ShowLpllcAllList?QueryLpllcNumber=200305810074 |title=LP/LLC Information |website=California Secretary of State |year=2003 |publisher=California |location=Sacramento, California |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080131201220/http://kepler.ss.ca.gov/corpdata/ShowLpllcAllList?QueryLpllcNumber=200305810074 |archivedate=31 January 2008 |accessdate=23 October 2008 |ref={{sfnRef|CASS staff|2003}} }}
*{{cite web |author=CASS staff |url=http://kepler.ss.ca.gov/corpdata/ShowLpllcAllList?QueryLpllcNumber=200305810074 |title=LP/LLC Information |website=California Secretary of State |year=2003 |publisher=California |location=Sacramento, California |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080131201220/http://kepler.ss.ca.gov/corpdata/ShowLpllcAllList?QueryLpllcNumber=200305810074 |archivedate=31 January 2008 |accessdate=23 October 2008 |ref={{sfnRef|CASS staff|2003}} }}
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*{{cite book |last=Colman |first=Andrew M. |title=A Dictionary of Psychology |year=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780199534067 |ref=harv }}
*{{cite book |last=Colman |first=Andrew M. |title=A Dictionary of Psychology |year=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780199534067 |ref=harv }}

*{{cite web |author=Commission d'Enquête |url=http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/dossiers/sectes/r1687anx.asp |title=Les sectes et l'argent |year=1999 |publisher=Assemblée nationale de France |location=Paris |accessdate=28 August 2013 |ref={{sfnRef|Commission d'Enquête|1999}} }}

*{{cite book | last1=Conway | first1=Flo | last2=Siegelman | first2=Jim | title=Snapping: America's Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change | publisher=Stillpoint | location=New York | year=1995 | isbn=0964765004 |ref={{sfnRef|Conway and Siegelman|1995}} }}


*{{cite news |last=Dewan|first=Shaila|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|publisher=The New York Times Company|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/04/us/04giles.html|title=Hired to Bring Order, Kings' Adviser Brings Peace|date=3 May 2010|accessdate=2 November 2010 |ref=CITEREFDewan3_May_2010 }}
*{{cite news |last=Dewan|first=Shaila|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|publisher=The New York Times Company|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/04/us/04giles.html|title=Hired to Bring Order, Kings' Adviser Brings Peace|date=3 May 2010|accessdate=2 November 2010 |ref=CITEREFDewan3_May_2010 }}

*{{cite web |author=DIKE staff |url=http://www.dike.de/SINUSsekteninfo/lec/history/rename.html |deadurl=yes |title=Landmark Education renamed |year=2000 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208001057/http://www.dike.de/SINUSsekteninfo/lec/history/rename.html |archivedate=8 February 2007 |website=Digitales Informationssystem in der Evangelischen Kirche in Hessen und Nassau |location=Mühlheim am Main |accessdate=22 October 2008 |ref={{sfnRef|DIKE staff|2000}} }}


*{{cite web |author=EFF staff |url=https://www.eff.org/cases/landmark-and-internet-archive |title=Landmark and the Internet Archive |year=2011 |website=eff.org |publisher=Electronic Frontier Foundation |accessdate=23 January 2015 |ref={{sfnRef|EFF staff|2011}} }}
*{{cite web |author=EFF staff |url=https://www.eff.org/cases/landmark-and-internet-archive |title=Landmark and the Internet Archive |year=2011 |website=eff.org |publisher=Electronic Frontier Foundation |accessdate=23 January 2015 |ref={{sfnRef|EFF staff|2011}} }}
Line 252: Line 170:


*{{cite book |last=Farber |first=Sharon Klayman |title=Hungry for Ecstasy: Trauma, the Brain, and the Influence of the Sixties |publisher=Jason Aronson/Rowman & Littlefield |location=Lanham, Maryland |year=2012 |isbn=9780765708588 |ref=harv }}
*{{cite book |last=Farber |first=Sharon Klayman |title=Hungry for Ecstasy: Trauma, the Brain, and the Influence of the Sixties |publisher=Jason Aronson/Rowman & Littlefield |location=Lanham, Maryland |year=2012 |isbn=9780765708588 |ref=harv }}

*{{cite news |last=Gardner |first=Fred |date=14–16 April 2007 |title=Bringing Down the Owner of EST: Barbara McNair’s Unsung Heroism |url=http://www.counterpunch.org/2007/04/14/barbara-mcnair-s-unsung-heroism/ |newspaper=counterpunch |publisher=CounterPunch |location=Petrolia, California |accessdate=11 January 2015 |ref={{sfnRef|Gardner|2007}} }}


*{{cite book |last=Gastil |first=John |title=The Group in Society |year=2010 |publisher=SAGE |location=Los Angeles |isbn=9781412924689 |ref=harv }}
*{{cite book |last=Gastil |first=John |title=The Group in Society |year=2010 |publisher=SAGE |location=Los Angeles |isbn=9781412924689 |ref=harv }}
Line 270: Line 186:


*{{cite news |last=Hukill |first=Traci |date=9–15 July 1998 |title= The est of Friends |journal=[[Metroactive]] |url=http://www.metroactive.com/landmark/landmark1-9827.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090123235400/http://metroactive.com/landmark/landmark1-9827.html |archivedate=23 January 2009 |deadurl=yes |accessdate=23 January 2015 |ref={{sfnRef|Hukill|1998}} }}
*{{cite news |last=Hukill |first=Traci |date=9–15 July 1998 |title= The est of Friends |journal=[[Metroactive]] |url=http://www.metroactive.com/landmark/landmark1-9827.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090123235400/http://metroactive.com/landmark/landmark1-9827.html |archivedate=23 January 2009 |deadurl=yes |accessdate=23 January 2015 |ref={{sfnRef|Hukill|1998}} }}

*{{cite web |author=Investigative Commission |url=http://www.dekamer.be/FLWB/pdf/49/0313/49K0313008.pdf |title=Enquette Parlementaire |year=1997 |publisher=Belgian Chamber of Representatives |location=Brussels |accessdate=28 August 2013 |ref={{sfnRef|Investigative Commission|1997}} }}


*{{cite news |last=Jones |first=Rachel |date=December 2003 |title=A Landmark Encounter: A long-overdue critical examination of Landmark 'lifestyle training' |newspaper=Noseweek Magazine |publisher=Chaucer Publications |location=Claremont South Africa |url=http://www.noseweek.co.za/article.php?current_article=628 |accessdate=23 January 2015 |ref={{sfnRef|Jones|2003}} }}{{subscription required}}
*{{cite news |last=Jones |first=Rachel |date=December 2003 |title=A Landmark Encounter: A long-overdue critical examination of Landmark 'lifestyle training' |newspaper=Noseweek Magazine |publisher=Chaucer Publications |location=Claremont South Africa |url=http://www.noseweek.co.za/article.php?current_article=628 |accessdate=23 January 2015 |ref={{sfnRef|Jones|2003}} }}{{subscription required}}
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*{{cite news |last=Kornbluth |first=Jesse |date=19 March 1976 |title=The Fuhrer over EST |newspaper=New Times |publisher=Hirsch |location=New York |ref={{sfnRef|Kornbluth|1976}} }}
*{{cite news |last=Kornbluth |first=Jesse |date=19 March 1976 |title=The Fuhrer over EST |newspaper=New Times |publisher=Hirsch |location=New York |ref={{sfnRef|Kornbluth|1976}} }}

*{{cite journal |last1=Kronberg |first1=Robert |last2=Lindebjerg |first2=Kristina |title=Psychogroups and Cults in Denmark |journal=[[Cultic Studies Review]] |volume=1 |issue=1 |publisher=[[International Cultic Studies Association]] |year=2002 |ref={{sfnRef|Kronberg and Lindebjerg|2002}} }}

*{{cite web |author=Landmark (Art Schreiber) |url=http:www.culteducation.com/reference/landmark/landmark107.pdf |title=Declaration of Arthur Schreiber; US District Court, New Jersey; Civil Action No.04-3022(JCL) |date=3 May 2005 |website=CEI |publisher=Cult Education Institute |accessdate=27 January 2015 |ref={{sfnRef|Landmark (Art Schreiber)|2005}} }}


*{{cite web |author=Landmark (Art Schreiber) |url=https://www.eff.org/files/filenode/landmark/archive_landmark_request.pdf |title=Landmark's letter to the Internet Archive |year=2006a |website=eff.org |publisher=Electronic Frontier Foundation |accessdate=23 January 2015 |ref={{sfnRef|Landmark (Art Schreiber)|2006a}} }}
*{{cite web |author=Landmark (Art Schreiber) |url=https://www.eff.org/files/filenode/landmark/archive_landmark_request.pdf |title=Landmark's letter to the Internet Archive |year=2006a |website=eff.org |publisher=Electronic Frontier Foundation |accessdate=23 January 2015 |ref={{sfnRef|Landmark (Art Schreiber)|2006a}} }}


*{{cite web |author=Landmark (Art Schreiber) |url=https://www.eff.org/files/filenode/landmark/google_landmarkdec.pdf |title=Landmark's letter to Google |year=2006b |website=eff.org |publisher=Electronic Frontier Foundation |accessdate=23 January 2015 |ref={{sfnRef|Landmark (Art Schreiber)|2006b}} }}
*{{cite web |author=Landmark (Art Schreiber) |url=https://www.eff.org/files/filenode/landmark/google_landmarkdec.pdf |title=Landmark's letter to Google |year=2006b |website=eff.org |publisher=Electronic Frontier Foundation |accessdate=23 January 2015 |ref={{sfnRef|Landmark (Art Schreiber)|2006b}} }}

*{{cite web |author=Landmark (Harry Rosenberg) |url=http://www.culteducation.com/reference/landmark/landmark163.pdf |title=Margaret Singer; Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Francisco; Declaration of Margaret Thaler Singer in Support of Defendant's Special Motion to Strike Complaint (CCP§425.16) |date=1 May 1996 |website=CEI |publisher=Cult Education Institute |accessdate=27 January 2015 |ref={{sfnRef|Landmark (Harry Rosenberg)|1996}} }}


*{{cite web |author=Landmark staff |url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/landmark-education-business-development-lebd-changes-name-to-vanto-group-56770627.html |title=Landmark Education Business Development, LEBD, Changes Name to Vanto Group |website=PRNewswire |date=1 February 2008 |accessdate=22 October 2008 |ref={{sfnRef|Landmark press release|2008}} }}
*{{cite web |author=Landmark staff |url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/landmark-education-business-development-lebd-changes-name-to-vanto-group-56770627.html |title=Landmark Education Business Development, LEBD, Changes Name to Vanto Group |website=PRNewswire |date=1 February 2008 |accessdate=22 October 2008 |ref={{sfnRef|Landmark press release|2008}} }}
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*{{cite news |last=Lazarus |first=Baila |title=Attain Freedom from the Past |newspaper=Jewish Independent |date=11 April 2008 |ref=CITEREFLazarus11_April_2008 }}
*{{cite news |last=Lazarus |first=Baila |title=Attain Freedom from the Past |newspaper=Jewish Independent |date=11 April 2008 |ref=CITEREFLazarus11_April_2008 }}


*{{Cite news |last=Lemonniera |first=Marie |title=Chez les gourous en cravate |newspaper=[[Le Nouvel Observateur]] |date=19 May 2005 |url=http://www.lepoint.fr/culture/2007-01-17/voyage-au-pays-des-nouveaux-gourous/249/0/28932 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090121000653/http://hebdo.nouvelobs.com/hebdo/parution/p2115/dossier/a268827-chez_les_gourous_en_cravate.html |archivedate=21 January 2009|language=French |accessdate=7 December 2008 |deadurl=yes |ref=CITEREFLemonniera19_May_2005 }}
*{{Cite news |last=Lemonniera |first=Marie |title=Chez les gourous en cravate |newspaper=[[Le Nouvel Observateur]] |date=19 May 2005 |url=http://hebdo.nouvelobs.com/hebdo/parution/p2115/dossier/a268827-chez_les_gourous_en_cravate.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090121000653/http://hebdo.nouvelobs.com/hebdo/parution/p2115/dossier/a268827-chez_les_gourous_en_cravate.html |archivedate=21 January 2009|language=French |accessdate=7 December 2008 |deadurl=yes |ref=CITEREFLemonniera19_May_2005 }}

*{{cite book |last=Lewis |first=James R. |authorlink=James R. Lewis (scholar) | title=Cults |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |year=2005 |isbn=1851096183 |ref=harv }}

*{{cite journal |last=Lockwood |first=Renee |year=2011 |title=Religiosity Rejected: Exploring the Religio-Spiritual Dimensions of Landmark Education |journal=International Journal for the Study of New Religions |volume=2 |issue=2 |location=Sheffield, England |publisher=Equinox |issn=2041-9511 |url=http://www.academia.edu/3789932/Religiosity_Rejected_Exploring_the_Religio-Spiritual_Dimensions_of_Landmark_Education |ref=harv}}


*{{Cite thesis |last=Logan |first=David C. |title=Transforming the Network of Conversations in BHP New Zealand Steel: Landmark Education Business Development's New Paradigm for Organizational Change |type=Case |year=1998 |publisher=USC Marshall School of Business |ref=harv}}
*{{Cite thesis |last=Logan |first=David C. |title=Transforming the Network of Conversations in BHP New Zealand Steel: Landmark Education Business Development's New Paradigm for Organizational Change |type=Case |year=1998 |publisher=USC Marshall School of Business |ref=harv}}

Revision as of 16:10, 30 January 2015

Not to be confused with Landmark School or Landmark College.
Landmark Worldwide
Company typePrivate LLC
IndustrySelf-help
FoundedJanuary 1991
HeadquartersSan Francisco, California
Key people
Harry Rosenberg: director, CEO;[1] Mick Leavitt: President[citation needed]
ProductsThe Landmark Forum, associated coursework
RevenueDecreaseUSD$77 million (2009)[2]
Number of employees
525+ employees[2]
Subsidiaries
Websitelandmarkworldwide.com

Landmark Worldwide (formerly Landmark Education), or simply Landmark, is a limited liability company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It offers programs in personal development.

The company started with the purchase of intellectual property based upon Werner Erhard's est training seminars. Landmark has developed and delivered over 40 personal development programs. Its subsidiary, the Vanto Group, also markets and delivers training and consulting to organizations.

Landmark's programs have been categorized by some scholars as religious or quasi-religious in nature. Landmark and many of the company's customers deny such characterizations, while some researchers question that categorization as well.

Corporation

Landmark Worldwide LLC was founded in January 1991 by several of the presenters of a predecessor training program known as "The Forum".[3] Landmark purchased the intellectual property rights to The Forum from Werner Erhard and Associates and used that as the basis for its foundation course named "The Landmark Forum", which has been further updated over the years. It has since developed a number of training courses and seminar programs throughout the world.

The corporation was originally registered as Transnational Education and changed its name to Landmark Education Corporation in May 1991.[4] In June 2003 it was re-structured as Landmark Education LLC,[5] and in July 2013 renamed Landmark Worldwide LLC. Landmark is a "for-profit company 100% owned by approximately 530 employees through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) and similar international plans. The organization's executive team reports to a Board of Directors that is elected annually by the ESOP."[6] In addition, its subsidiary, the Vanto Group, focuses on marketing and delivering training and consultation services to corporate clients and other organizations.[7]

According to Landmark, Werner Erhard (creator of the est training which ran from 1971 to 1984 and from which Werner Erhard and Associates' "The Forum" was derived[8]) consults from time to time with Landmark's research and design team.[9]

Business consulting

Vanto Group, Inc., founded in 1993 as "Landmark Education Business Development" (LEBD), a wholly owned subsidiary of Landmark Worldwide Enterprises, Inc., uses the techniques of Landmark to provide consulting services to various companies. The University of Southern California (USC) Marshall School of Business carried out a case study in 1998 into the work of LEBD with BHP New Zealand Steel. The report concluded that the set of interventions in the organization produced a 50% improvement in safety, a 15% to 20% reduction in key benchmark costs, a 50% increase in return on capital, and a 20% increase in raw steel production.[10] LEBD became the Vanto Group in 2008.[7]

Licensing intellectual property

Tekniko, Inc., formerly owned by Werner Erhard, was the successor organization to Transformational Technologies, which was incorporated in 1984 by Erhard and management consultant James Selman.[11][better source needed] Tekniko Licensing Corporation, a California corporation owned by Terry M. Giles, later acquired this technology.[12]

The Landmark Forum

Landmark's entry course, The Landmark Forum, is a prerequisite for the majority of their other programs.[13] The course varies in size between 75 and 250 people,[14] and is arranged as a discussion where the course leader presents certain ideas and the course participants engage in voluntary discussions applying those ideas to their own life.[15] Rules are set up at the beginning of the program, such as strongly encouraging participants not to miss any part of the program.[16] Attendees are also urged to be “coachable” and not just be observers during the course.[16][17]

Various ideas are presented, asserted and discussed during the course. For example, the course maintains that there is a big difference between what actually happened in a person’s life and the meaning or interpretation they made up about it,[15] and that human behavior is governed by a need to look good.[16] Another tenet of the course is that people pursue an "imaginary 'someday' of satisfaction",[14] and that people create meaning for themselves since "there is none inherent in the world".[14] The course also maintains that people have persistent complaints that give rise to unproductive fixed ways of being,[18] but that people can “transform”, by a creative act of bringing forth new ways of being, rather than trying to change themselves in comparison to the past.[14] Course participants are encouraged to call people they know during the course, with whom they feel they have unresolved tensions, and either be in communication with the other person or be responsible for their own behavior.[19]

An evening session follows closely on the three consecutive days of the course and completes the Landmark Forum. During this final session, the participants share information about their results, and bring guests to learn about the Forum.[20]

Companies such as Panda Express and Lululemon Athletica pay for and encourage employees to take part in The Landmark Forum.[21][22]

Religious characteristics

Some scholars have categorized Landmark and its predecessor organizations as new age, self religion or a new religious movement.[23] Other observers have noted relationships between the training programs and religion or a spiritual experience,[24] including a lack of religious elements in the programs and the compatibility of the programs with existing religions.[25] Others, such as Chryssides, classify Landmark as either quasi-religious or secular with some elements of religion (although various scholars have disputed this characterization).[26] Landmark has denied that it is a religion, cult or sect,[27] and "freely threatens or pursues lawsuits against those who call it [a cult]".[28]

Journalist Amelia Hill with The Observer witnessed the Landmark Forum and concluded that, in her view, it is not religious or a cult. Hill wrote, "It is ... simple common sense delivered in an environment of startling intensity." Karin Badt from The Huffington Post criticized the organisation's emphasis on "'spreading the word' of the Landmark forum as a sign of the participants' 'integrity'" in recounting her personal experience of an introductory "Landmark Forum" course, but noted, "at the end of the day, I found the Forum innocuous. No cult, no radical religion: an inspiring, entertaining introduction of good solid techniques of self-reflection, with an appropriate emphasis on action and transformation (not change)".[14]

Public reception

In his review of the Landmark Forum, New York Times reporter Henry Alford wrote that he "resented the pressure" placed on him during a session, but also noted that "two months after the Forum, I'd rate my success at 84 percent."[29] Time reporter Nathan Thornburgh, in his review of The Landmark Forum, said "At its heart, the course was a withering series of scripted reality checks meant to show us how we have created nearly everything we see as a problem …I benefited tremendously from the uncomfortable mirror the course had put in front of me."[30]

A series of investigative articles in the Swedish national daily Dagens Nyheter reported serious complaints about Landmark practices, including a report of one person who suffered from acute psychosis after taking a Landmark course.[31] The chairman of Föreningen Rädda individen, a support organization for those affected by cults and destructive movements, told Dagens Nyheter that Landmark is one of the most dangerous sects in Sweden.[31]

Pièces à Conviction

In 2004, France 3 aired a television documentary on Landmark in their investigative series Pièces à Conviction. The episode, called "Voyage Au Pays des Nouveaux Gourous" ("Journey to the land of the new gurus") aired during prime time, a first for the show, and was highly critical of its subject.[32]

Shot in large part with a hidden camera, the episode was an expose of sorts and had filmmaker Laurent Richard attend a Landmark course and visit their offices.[33] In addition, the program included interviews with former course participants, anti-cultists, and commentators including the then vice-president of the Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France, Jean-Pierre Brard, as well as Catherine Picard, Jean-Pierre Jougla, Jean-Marie Abgrall and Gilles Bottine, the secretary general of MIVILUDES. Landmark left France following the airing of the episode and a subsequent site visit by labor inspectors that noted the activities of volunteers,[34] and sued Jean-Pierre Brard in 2004 following his appearance on the show.[35]

The Pièces à Conviction episode was uploaded to a variety of websites, and in October 2006 Landmark issued subpoenas pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to Google Video, YouTube, and the Internet Archive demanding details of the identity of the person(s) who had uploaded those copies. These organizations challenged the subpoenas and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) became involved, planning to file a motion to quash Landmark's DMCA subpoena to Google Video.[36] Landmark eventually withdrew its subpoenas.

Footnotes

  1. ^ Landmark staff 2002a.
  2. ^ a b Landmark staff 2014b.
  3. ^ Pressman 1993, p. 254.
  4. ^ CASS staff 2003.
  5. ^ CASS staff 1987.
  6. ^ Landmark staff 2014a.
  7. ^ a b Landmark press release 2008.
  8. ^ See:
  9. ^ Faltermayer & 24 June 2001.
  10. ^ Logan 1998.
  11. ^ Bodek 1984–1985.
  12. ^ Case Financial 2000a.
  13. ^ Landmark staff 2015.
  14. ^ a b c d e Badt & 5 March 2008.
  15. ^ a b Stassen 2008.
  16. ^ a b c Hill & 13 December 2008.
  17. ^ McCrone & 1 February 2008.
  18. ^ See:
  19. ^ See:
  20. ^ See:
  21. ^ Businessweek & 18 November 2010.
  22. ^ Sacks & 1 April 2009.
  23. ^ See:
  24. ^ See:
  25. ^ See:
  26. ^ See:
  27. ^ Puttick 2004, pp. 406–407.
  28. ^ Scioscia 2000.
  29. ^ Alford & 26 November 2010, p. L1.
  30. ^ Thornburgh & 7 March 2011.
  31. ^ a b Palme & 3 June 2002.
  32. ^ See:
  33. ^ Roy & 24 May 2004.
  34. ^ See:
    • (Lemonniera & 19 May 2005), French text: "L’'Inspection du Travail débarque dans les locaux de Landmark, constate l'’exploitation des bénévoles et dresse des procès-verbaux pour travail non déclaré." English translation: "Labor inspectors turned up at the offices of Landmark, noted the exploitation of volunteers and drew up a report of undeclared employment.";
    • (Landmark staff 2004), Landmark's response;
    • (Badt & 5 March 2008), quote: It was this TV program that closed down the Landmark in France, leaving it only 24 other countries in which to spread its word.
  35. ^ Palmer 2011.
  36. ^ See:

References

  • ABC News staff. "Defence workers trained by 'cult'". ABC News. Sydney, NSW: ABC (Australia). Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  • Anderson, Kurt (2007). "Son of EST: The Terminator of Self-Doubt". In Ross, Lillian (ed.). The Fun of It: Stories from The Talk of the Town; The New Yorker. New York: Vintage Books/Random House. ISBN 0375756493. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Atkin, Douglas (2004). "What Is Required of a Belief System?". The Culting of Brands: Turn Your Customers Into True Believers. New York: Penguin/Portfolio. ISBN 9781591840275. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Bartley, William W. (1978). Werner Erhard: The Transformation of a Man. New York: Clarkson N. Potter. ISBN 0517535025. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Bauder, Don (7 August 1994). "Firm Turns to est Guru; Still Slides". Union-Tribune. San Diego.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
  • Beckford, James A. (2003). Social Theory and Religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521774314. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Beckford, James A. (2004). "New Religious Movements and Globalization". In Lucas, Phillip Charles; Robbins, Thomas (eds.). New Religious Movements in the 21st Century. Abingdon and New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-96576-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Bhugra, Dinesh (1997). Psychiatry and Religion: Context, Consensus and Controversies. Routledge. ISBN 0415165121. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • CASS staff (2003). "LP/LLC Information". California Secretary of State. Sacramento, California: California. Archived from the original on 31 January 2008. Retrieved 23 October 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
  • CASS staff (1987). "Entity Number C1197599". California Secretary of State. Sacramento, California: California. Retrieved 23 October 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
  • Chryssides, George (1999). Exploring New Religions. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Eisner, Donald A. (2000). The Death of Psychotherapy: From Freud to Alien Abductions. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger. ISBN 0275964132. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Faltermayer, Charlotte (24 June 2001). "The Best of est?". Time Magazine. New York. Retrieved 8 December 2014.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
  • Farber, Sharon Klayman (2012). Hungry for Ecstasy: Trauma, the Brain, and the Influence of the Sixties. Lanham, Maryland: Jason Aronson/Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780765708588. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Goldwag, Arthur (2009). Cults, Conspiracies, and Secret Societies. New York: Vintage/Random House. ISBN 9780307390677. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Gordon, Suzanne (December 1978). "Let Them Eat est". Mother Jones. San Francisco, California. Retrieved 8 December 2014.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
  • Grigoriadis, Vanessa (9 July 2001). "Pay Money, Be Happy". New York Magazine. New York, New York. Retrieved 6 September 2014.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
  • Heelas, Paul (1991). "Western Europe: Self Religions". In Sutherland, S.R.; Clarke, P.B. (eds.). The Study of Religion: Traditional and New Religions. London: Routledge. ISBN 0415064325. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Hellard, Peta (11 June 2006). "Stress Fear in $700 Child Forum: WA children as young as eight who attend "life-changing" coaching sessions by a controversial US company could have difficulty with their schoolwork afterwards, according to experts". Sunday Times. Perth, Western Australia: News Corporation.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
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