1994-1995

Highlights

• Scientology Policy Directive: "Personal Income Taxes"
• The Church (OSA) becomes aware of the Internet (Elaine Siegel briefing)
• CofS starts to attack Germany
• Cancelpoodle
• RTC attorney Helena K. Kobrin tries to remove alt.religion.scientology newsgroup
• confidential church material (OT Levels) hit the Internet: ...raid on Helsingius
• raid on Dennis Ehrlich
• Scamizdat (Internet)
• raid on Arnie Lerma
• Scientology filing for seizure of XS4ALL's computer equipment
• Lisa McPherson dies

1994, 7 Feb 

The IRS refuses the FOI request, and Tax Analysts files suit. Ref: Tax Analysts press release, 26 June 1995 (Timeline of Scientology versus the IRS)

1994, 2.5.

In keeping with their new jobs as IRS agents, top execs issue a Scientology Policy Directive on this date, entitled – "Personal Income Taxes", which says in part:

"Until the tax system is changed, a Scientologist who refuses to file a tax return, to pay required income taxes, or to comply with other tax laws, is in violation of the Scientology ethics codes and by his or her unethical conduct is placing himself and the group at risk. Such a person will be ineligible for Church services until the matter is rectified. Anyone promoting to other Scientologists not to pay taxes or file returns or promoting any of the various tax protest schemes, will be subject to discipline under the Scientology justice codes." (Criminal Track)

1994 11.4.

Roll Call Newspaper: On the bottom of the full page it says that the add is a paid message from the Church of Scientology International from a grant from the International Association of Scientologists. Its purpose is to focus attention on the alarming resurgence of violence in Germany.

This is the first ad and I have six more that will post as I can.

STOP THE HATRED IN GERMANY - DON'T LET HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF FREEDOM - HARD WON DON'T WASTE IT

The purpose of this and future ads in Roll Call is to present information on the subject of hate and propaganda in Germany yesterday and today - to prevent history from repeating itself.

As you read this and future advertisements, do not just stand by but take action yourself.

Write to President Bill Clinton. Urge him to take strong and effective steps to stop hatred and discrimination against religion and ethnic minorities in Germany:

President Bill Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, D.C. 20500
USA

Send copies of your letters to:

Commission of Security and Cooperation in Europe
234 Ford House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
USA

U.S. Representative Tom Lantos
Co-Chairman - Congressional Human Rights Caucus
2183 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
USA

Dr. Helmut Kohl
Federal Chancellor
Adenauerallee 141
5300 Bonn 1
Federal Republic of Germany

1994, 11.5.

The Church (OSA) becomes aware of the Internet:

BRIEFING TO ALL SCIENTOLOGISTS ON THE INTERNET, DATE: 11.05.1994 02:59 - FROM THE CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY INTERNATIONAL

(NOTE: If you know any other Scientologists on Internet or America Online, please e-mail this briefing to them).

Dear Scientologist, as you know, there has been quite a bit of false and derogatory information going out over the Internet by a few detractors, squirrels etc.

The Church fired a project to collect up all this information, and we have been in comm with some of you already. We have obtained legal input on some of the messages that individuals have posted that could be libelous or in violation of copyright laws.

We have a plan of action that we are taking, to simply outcreate the entheta on these newsgroups (alt.religion.scientology and alt.clearing.technology), and get positive information to the general public on what Scientology is, our activities around the world, successes stories and LRH writings. There will also be some legal actions, which you will be further briefed on. Basically, as a group we will NO longer put up with our religion being criticized, harassed and denigrated on the Internet.... (full text of the Siegel Briefing, see also article SP Times, 3.8.94)

In the summer of 1994, a disgruntled Scientologist forwarded a copy of an electronic memo to an a.r.s critic. Elaine Siegel of Scientology's Office of Special Affairs (OSA) had apparently sent the memo to several Scientologists on the Internet and America Online as a plan to handle electronic criticism of Scientology. The memo was promptly reposted to a.r.s. It read:"As you know, there has been quite a bit of false and derogatory information going out over the Internet by a few detractors, squirrels [relapsed Scientologists], etc....We have a plan of action that we are taking, to simply outcreate the entheta on these newsgroups (alt.religion.scientology and alt.clearing.technology)...." Ms. Siegel went on to explain that critics should not be engaged in debate, but 40 to 50 Scientologists should post pro-Scientology materials every few days so that "we'll just run the SP's [suppressive persons] right off the system. It will be quite simple, actually." (Skeptic: Scn vs Internet)

1994, 19.5.

Vicki Aznaran settles her suit against Scientology for $25,000.00. She signs a gag order as part of the settlement. (Criminal Track)

1994 4.6.

Clearwater (news from Flag): Heber Jentzsch visited the England House of Lords yesterday, and spoke with one of the Lords, Joseph Gaging (I may spell this wrong) who was briefed on the neo-nazi movement in Germany and the way they treat their minorities. This Lord was a survivor of 3 years concentration camp under Hitler, and then 2 years in a camp under the Russian occupation afterward. Then he fled and got to England. He was presented the What Is Scientology? book and commented on the quality and the fact it seemed well organized.

Regarding religious freedom in Germany he was told that the Church of Scientology had placed 20 ads in the magazine Roll Call which gets sent to all White House staff, business leaders and government offices. He was shown the ads that compared the current religious bias to the stuff that appeared in the thirties against the Jews. (Actually the cartoons and imagery used then and now are frighteningly similar)

As a result of our actions and letter writing an article appeared recently in a German newspaper starting with: "Scientology is putting pressure on Bonn" ( their seat of government) The German Minister of Foreign Affairs complained: "Zey aar airing our zirty laundree around zee world" .

UNITED NATIONS: There are two new posts created recently in the UN. Both are to do with Human Rights and one of these posts is in the TOP 5 of officials of the UN. This is the highest in the UN. Both of these persons were fully briefed about the human rights situation in Germany and our submission about this situation was chosen with 2 others out of a total of 2000!

1994, 3.8.

St. Petersburg Times, August 3, 1994

A BATTLE OF BELIEFS WAGED IN MEGABYTES - By WAYNE GARCIA

Scientologists and their critics are colliding in cyberspace.

The critics started the fight, creating an electronic bulletin board dubbed alt.religion.scientology on the Internet, a worldwide web of computer networks with an audience pushing 25-million.

Then they downloaded their knowledge and opinions in e-mail messages that just about anyone with a computer, a little money and a modem can view.

"As you will see, Scientology is astronomically prohibitive," one anonymous writer said on a.r.s in a message that reprinted the church's price list for counseling and training. "If you're not a celebrity or a very rich businessman, you'll be in for a few surprises."

Another, code-named "The Squirrel," chimed in "I am plotting, for the umpteenth time, how I can reveal that yet another "Scientology Truth" is just one of the many strange and somewhat stupid utterances that came from the lying lips of L. Ron Hubbard."

Scientologists were appalled when they found out about this bashfest three months ago. A church staff member in Los Angeles electronically deputized a posse of the faithful to counter the naysayers. Within days, the Internet was flooded with testimonials praising Scientology and with texts written by Hubbard, the late science fiction writer who founded Scientology in the 1950s.

Hundreds of pages of dogma hit the computer screens, including a chapter-by-chapter serialization of an 863-page Scientology book.

From Largo, the manager of a software company threw in glowing weekly accounts of goings-on at the Fort Harrison in Clearwater, Scientology's international spiritual headquarters. The message throughout Try Scientology, it works.

Watching from afar, and laughing at both sides, is a splinter group calling itself the Free Zone. Its members love Hubbard's teachings and technology but reject the organization that is the church.

It's no surprise that Scientology is a hit on the Internet. For many religions, computer networks have become a place to pray, debate dogma, study the Bible, read the Koran and recruit new members.

But Scientology's niche is busier than most, and certainly more entertaining, say some of the 77,000 Internet "surfers" a month who run across the Scientology-related bulletin boards, called newsgroups.

The explosive growth of the Internet - and Scientology's presence on it - caught church officials by surprise. Scientology has always met its critics head on and spent time and money dealing with dissent. That was easier when the critics were earthbound, warm bodies with identifiable faces.

In the world of computer networking, the critics float unfettered, as anonymous as they want to be, connected to millions of others at the push of a button, disconnected and hidden just as easily.

Kurt Weiland, who heads Scientology's legal and public affairs branch, dismissed much of the Internet traffic as irrelevant and a waste of time. In the next breath, though, he acknowledged that "we asked our law firm to look into what was going on."

A private investigator working for Scientology posed as a journalist to quiz a computer user in Bloomington, Ind., who is believed to have started the anti-Scientology newsgroup.

"These people are welcome to speak their minds," Weiland said. But he added a caveat "It is clear that some of this is written to be derisive of and libel the church."

And, as Weiland acknowledged, the Church of Scientology doesn't stand still in the face of what it believes is derisive, incorrect data.

The Elaine Siegel briefing

Every few days, someone posts a message on the Internet asking, "Where is Elaine Siegel?"

They worry that Siegel, a staff worker in Scientology's Office of Special Affairs in Los Angeles, has been punished for letting a copy of her now infamous letter fall into the wrong hands - the critics' quick hands.

They have not received a response from her.

Siegel's letter has been posted more than a dozen times on Internet. It details a plan for Scientologists to counter their cybercritics.

"If you imagine 40-50 Scientologists posting on the Internet every few days, we'll just run the SPs (suppressive persons) right off the system," Siegel wrote. "It will be quite simple, actually."

She added "Basically, as a group, we will NO longer put up with our religion being criticized, harassed and denigrated on the Internet. There will also be some legal actions, which you will be further briefed on."

Scientology is going to get its own link to Internet, Siegel said. She called the critics "jerks."

The critics went ballistic, half-upset at the takeover attempt, half-tickled at the impossibility of such a task. They began the "Where is Elaine Siegel?" e-mail campaign, its sinister-sounding question about her fate sure to tweak Scientology officials.

Weiland said Siegel's letter was distributed without her superior's approval and doesn't represent an official position.

She has not been punished, he said. Weiland said he agreed with her basic message of countering negative news with positive but denied wanting to push anyone off the Internet, saying the critics' response suggests it is they who want to dominate the medium.

"That just shows that these people wanted a free-for-all on a forum that is meant for everyone," Weiland said.

Through Weiland, Siegel declined to talk to the Times for this story.

The man who exposed Siegel's private letter to the Internet is Chris Schafmeister, a third-year biophysics graduate student at the University of California in San Francisco. He posted the Siegel letter after receiving it from a Scientologist whom he said he befriended on Internet. Before tripping across the Scientology newsgroup, he had no experience with the organization. He is now a caustic critic.

"My role is to make sure they're never going to be comfortable on the Net," Schafmeister said.

Now, he is the one getting uncomfortable. After being interviewed for this story, Schafmeister said, he learned that someone claiming to be a reporter from Orange County, Calif., was checking up on him with other computer users. The "reporter" refused to identify his newspaper. In a second incident, someone claiming to be a parcel delivery worker phoned Schafmeister to get his home address. Schafmeister never got a delivery.

Weiland said he doesn't know of any Scientology inquiry into Schafmeister but acknowledged that a private investigator did pose as a reporter and question the Bloomington man who is believed to have founded the anti-Scientology bulletin board.

Weiland said that was done because the person who started the board used the name of David Miscavige, the current leader of Scientology.

Scientologists on the Net

Stu Sjouwerman is vice president of a software company in Largo.

The Dutch native has been a Scientologist for 12 years and is known to Internet users for his "Warm Regards" Stu closing on his weekly reports about what's happening in Clearwater Scientology.

Sjouwerman (pronounced Shauw-er-min) uses his Internet time to spread the word from Scientology's Clearwater-based Flag Service Organization, mainly detailed accounts of the speeches given at the Friday night graduation ceremonies at the Fort Harrison Hotel.

Sjouwerman, 38, also guides people on Internet to Clearwater, where the top Scientology courses and processing are available.

Sjouwerman said his motivation is to tell how Scientology has helped his life, how it keeps his marriage alive, how it helped him get the best job he has ever had.

"... I'd like my fellow beings on this planet to experience this same absolutely wonderful feeling of spiritual freedom," Sjouwerman said in a written statement. "That is why I am here on the Net."

Others get similarly involved, posting lengthy passages from Scientology books, a list of every Scientology organization in the world and lists of available books and tapes.

On the Internet, they describe how Scientology has helped them become better people.

"Ever wonder why the critics can't just let you do Scientology, while they simply not do it, since it's obviously not for them?" wrote one person who identified himself as a Scientologist. "What would be wrong with people getting better?"

Weiland said the Scientologists on Internet are individuals, not part of any church plan. Scientology's marketing branch, he added, is looking at the possibility of using the Internet.

The Free Zone lives

All the benefits of Scientology at a fraction of the cost. That is the promise of the Free Zone, located on an Internet bulletin board called alt.clearing.technology.

Neither fish nor fowl, not Scientologist or basher, the United Free Zone Alliance and its estimated 3,000 adherents trade variations on Hubbard's theme, and some continue his research, an idea that is blasphemous to the Church of Scientology.

It also attracts believers in alternative mind-clearing technologies or religions outside of Scientology, people who practice processes aimed at ridding the mind of harmful, painful memories.

That kind of dissension and continued research, coupled with the freedom of choice to learn mind-clearing outside official channels, makes the Free Zone Scientology's "worst nightmare," said alt.clearing.technology founder Homer Wilson Smith, a computer artist from upstate New York.

"Scientifically this is very fertile ground," said Smith, 43.

"Dogmatically, it sows the seeds of war."

Some even use the medium to discuss auditing techniques and tips, Scientology's confessional process that is used to locate and discharge areas of mental strife. The most expensive Scientology auditing costs $1,000 an hour. Free Zoners are doing it for nothing, or next to nothing.

Weiland called the Free Zoners "squirrels," a term for those who take Hubbard's teachings and use them outside the officials channels of the church or who alter them into something else.

Scientology has pursued countless lawsuits against squirrels, aimed at ridding the religion of squirrel tech, as they call it.

Scientology has known about the Free Zone for years, long before it went on the Internet. As long as no Scientology copyrights or trademarks are violated, Weiland said, no legal action will be taken.

But what the Free Zone is doing is wrong nonetheless, he said.

"We are not tolerant of any alterations or deviations from the standard technology. If you alter it, you may get some benefit, but it won't be the benefit you could get by following it."

Out in cyberspace, the skirmish for souls continues.

A man who identifies himself as a Russian writes "My name is Alexander. I live in Moscow and I'm interested in Scientology very much. I'd like to know if it is possible to have your information in Russian?"

A Scientologist responds that most of the literature has been translated and that there are even several Scientology organizations in Russia. He offers to mail him more information.

That's too tempting for a critic in Arizona, who posts the last word.

"My critique of Scientology has been translated into Russian," Jeff Jacobsen writes, "in case you want a copy of that."

- Times researchers Kitty Bennett and Debbie Wolfe contributed to this report.

1994, 4.8.

OSA has David Mayo arrested at his home in the Dominican Republic on false charges of drug smuggling. Interpol had called the head of the Dominican Republic drug department to get Mayo arrested. (In case you didn’t know, like the IRS, DM is also friends with Interpol.) (Criminal Track)

1994, 8.8.

UPn - Washington Agenda - General News Events - Update

EVENT: THE CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY holds a news conference to protest the opening of an exhibit "Against Hitler German Resistance to National Socialism, 1933-1945." The Church objects to the German government's lack of resistance to incidents of ethnic and religious discrimination currently in Germany.

1994, Sept.

Washington Post - Advertisment of the Scientology Church, Sept. 1994

1994, 14.9.

On September 14, an anonymous poster claiming to be a concerned Scientologist also posted a plan to handle the Internet critics, allegedly originating from the COS and filled with citations to Hubbard Communications Office Policy Letters (HCOPLs), which are organizational and administrative policies authored by L. Ron Hubbard. This plan was more elaborate, with individuals assigned to Legal, Security, Success Posting, and even Humor assignments. The goal was to have "no less than 50 posts per day for the next month." (Skeptic: Scn vs Internet)

Randy McDonald becomes aware that upper level management is writing their own policy, called Scientology Policy Directives (SPD).

He writes a High Crime Report on Tax Compliance Officer OSA Int. and AVC Int. for enforcing Scientology Policy Directive 2 May 1994 Personal Income Taxes, on him.

McDonald’s knowledge report notes that what the SPD says violates various HCOPLs and the very existence of SPD’s also violates HCOPLs.

Per HCOPL 9 August 1972 Seniority Of Orders: "Any practice by which junior issues, such as directives, abolish networks or make off-policy changes can only result in the destruction of networks, orgs and tech. This is therefore a High Crime policy letter and it is an offense both to follow or obey or issue any verbal or written order or directive which is contrary to or changes or abolishes anything set up in HCO Policy Letters or HCOBs…." (Criminal Track)

1994, 19.9.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 /PRNewswire

Officials of the Church of Scientology joined the D.C. Student Coalition Against Racism in a demonstration in front of the German Embassy this afternoon, charging that "the German government is actively fueling the growing religious and racial intolerance in that country."

"While the German government claims to support the principles of tolerance and democracy," explained church spokesperson Sylvia Stanard, "law abiding German citizens are being arbitrarily stripped of their rights by that same government, solely because of their faith. Such actions only give tacit approval to the growing skinhead violence against religious and racial minorities. People must learn the truth about Germany and make their voices heard now."

As evidence, Stanard cited the official Hamburg ordinance prohibiting the sale or rental of property to Scientologists as well as the official exclusion of Scientologists from the three major political parties, including the Christian Democratic Union, the party of German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

The church participation in the demonstration comes days after the Scientologists launched a national public information campaign on Germany with the first of a series of full-page ads in both The Washington Post and New York Times.

The church is urging concerned citizens to write to German Chancellor Kohl, President Bill Clinton and other key officials on the issue.

1994, 22.9.

PR 22.09.1994 23:46 - PRESIDENT CLINTON PRAISED BY RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- President Clinton's recent intervention into the Crystal Evangelical Free Church tax case was praised today be a diverse group of religious organizations.

The president's action comes during Religious Freedom Week, proclaimed by Congressional Resolutions and Presidential Proclamations and celebrated nationally by citizens of all faiths.

The letter stated that those signing "applaud the president's support and strong interpretation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) ... A safer community is created for all when religious values are protected and promoted."

The letter was signed by representatives of the National Council of Churches, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the Church of Scientology International, the General Conference of Seventh- day Adventists, J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies at Baylor University, The General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church, the Mennonite Central Committee US, The Family, the Native American Church of North America and the Assemblies of God....

1994, 13.10.

New York Times, 10/13/94

Officials in Germany Denounce Sect as a Menace to Democracy

Leading members of the German Government and oppostition parties have attacked the American-based Scientology movement as a danger to democracy, and called on the next government to ban it.

The interior ministers of the 16 German states last spring called Scientology "an organization that combines elements of business crime and psychological terror against its own members with economic activities and sectarian traits, under the protective cover of a religious group."

On Tuesday, Renate Rennebach, a member of Parliament from the opposition Social Democratic Party, asserted that Scientology was not a religion but a conspiratorial movement with global political aims.

"At present Scientology is misusing international concern about right-wing radical attacks in the Federal Republic to cause serious damage to the reputation of the country abroad, with an advertising campaign in influential American newspapers," Mrs. Rennebach said.

Full-page advertisements paid for by the British-based International Association of Scientologists appeared in The New York Times and The Washington Post last month. The advertisements recounted the rise of militant right-wing violence against foreign asylum-seekers and immigrants in Germany since unification four years ago and said "fascism is on the rise again, condoned and encouraged by the German Government."

Labor Minister Norbert Blum denounced the advertisements today as a campaign of defamation against the German Government, which has strongly condemned the attacks against foreigners and since 1992 has outlawed five neo-Nazi parties that it maintained had inspired the attacks.

"Scientology is not a church or a religious organization," Mr. Blum said. "Scientology is a machine for manipulating human beings."

Asserting that the movement's real aims were political and transcended national boundaries, Mrs. Rennebach, her party's spokesman on sects, said the new German federal government that will be elected next Sunday should put the group under surveillance.

With an estimated two million members in Germany alone, Scientology has aroused considerable controversy since it first came here in 1970 and stimulated the production of at least six books denouncing it for defrauding adherents of their savings, threatening opponents with violence and seeking to infiltrate companies and entire branches of commerce, such as commercial real estate, in major German cities.

Ursula Caberta, who heads a department of the Hamburg state Ministry of the Interior that is devoted exclusively to dealing with complaints about Scientology, supported Mrs. Rennebach's call to outlaw the movement here and said the Hamburg authorities would pursue legal action against it all the way to the German supreme court.

"Scientology is by far the most dangerous and the most widespread of these psycho-technical groups," she said.

Scientologist documents made available by Mrs. Rennebach today included a "Call-to-Arms Germany" complaining of bomb threats and violence against Scientology churches. "We can prove beyond any doubt that this is the exact same pattern which was used to start the hate campaign against the Jewish people in 1935," said the document, signed by Klaus Buchele, from the group's office of special affairs.

1994, 4.11.

Roll Call Newspaper - April 11, 1994 

Note: On the bottom of the full page it says that the add is a paid message from the Church of Scientology International from a grant from the International Association of Scientologists. Its purpose is to focus attention on the alarming resurgence of violence in Germany. This is the first ad ... there are six more

STOP THE HATRED IN GERMANY - DON'T LET HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF 
FREEDOM - HARD WON DON'T WASTE IT 

...Today we are seeing what the world was witnessing in the 1930 as multi-pronged onslaught against anyone who doesn't fit into a "German" mold. 

Among those targeted have been members of the Church of Scientology. They are being ostracized purely because of their religious beliefs. German Scientologists are barred from membership in political parties. In Hamburg, laws exist which prohibit Scientolgists from renting public halls or buying city property. Rocks and bottles have been hurled through Church windows and individual Scientologists have been threatened, beaten and harassed. ...

1994, 10.11.

... two men came to the door of former Scientologist Arnie Lerma, who had been posting court documents pertaining to Scientology on a.r.s., with a document for him to sign. It was a yet unsigned affidavit in his name which declared that he recanted his attacks on Scientology and that he had "left the Church entirely because I could not maintain a high enough ethical standard and wished to protect the organization from my destructive behavior." Lerma refused to sign. Within an hour after the men left, he received a fax accusing him of posting illicit materials to the network and stating that "THE COS IS WILLING TO SETTLE THIS MATTER OUT OF COURT AND WITHHOLD ANY FURTHER LEGAL OR INVESTIGATIVE ACTION IF YOU WILL AGREE TO CEASE AND DESIST ALL YOUR ACTIVITY AGAINST THE CHURCH AND ANSWER SOME OF OUR QUESTIONS TO CLARIFY THIS MATTER." Lerma reported these events to the FBI and to the Washington Post, which reported them on December 25, 1994, as did the Associated Press on January 3, 1995. (Skeptic: Scn vs Internet)

1994, 18.11.

The Library of Congress records show that on this date: 

• Mary Sue Hubbard, widow, 
• Diana Meredith Dewolf Hubbard Ryan, 
• Mary Suzette Rochelle Hubbard, 
• Arthur Ronald Conway Hubbard, 
• Lafayette Ronald Conway Hubbard Jr., aka L. Ron Hubbard Jr. aka Nibs Hubbard aka Ronald Dewolf & 
• Katherine May Hubbard Gillespie, 

children of deceased author L.Ron Hubbard, copyright assignment:

Ceremonies of the Founding Church of Scientology & 1,364 other titles by L. Ron Hubbard. Full document range: (In V3058 P 155-208) to the Church of Spiritual Technology. (Criminal Track)

1994, 12.12.

One of the earliest articles cancelled by the Cancelpoodle was a "decree of the commencement of oral trial," a court document from Spain dated December 12, 1994, describing criminal proceedings initiated against COS president Heber Jentzsch, and leading Spanish Scientologists, for "felonies of illicit association, threats, coercion, usurpation of functions, false accusation, simulation of felony, illegal arrest, crimes against the Tax Administration, crimes against freedom and safety in the workplace, intrusion, crimes against the public health, injuries, damages, abuse, slander and inducement to suicide." (Skeptic: Scn vs Internet)

1994, 24.12.

December 24, however, someone using an anonymous remailer in the Netherlands posted OTI, OTII, and "New OT" (NOTs) issues 34, 35, and 36 to a.r.s. ...Former Scientologist Dennis Erlich, a regular contributor to the a.r.s newsgroup since August 1994, posted articles commenting on some of the material and pronounced it genuine. Suddenly the material Scientology reveals only after the investment of considerable time and money was accessible to a potential audience of 30 million Internet users. (Skeptic: Scn vs Internet)

1994, 27.12.

On December 27, the COS contacted the Netherlands remailer operator, who promptly announced to a.r.s that he had disabled the anonymous account of the user responsible. On the same day, an event took place which focused the attention of free speech activists on a.r.s. A person using the name "Harry Jones" issued a cancellation for an article posted by Dennis Erlich commenting on the OT materials. The cancellation, issued from an account with Netcom, a San Jose-based national Internet service provider, was easily traceable to its origin but was soon followed by more sophisticated cancellation messages.

These later messages were all directed at postings by Scientology critics, but now were done in such a way that they could not easily be traced to the account which originated them. The unknown person responsible for these cancellations was dubbed the "Cancelpoodle," a variant on the name of the "Cancelmoose." (The Cancelmoose, an anonymous individual who cancels indiscriminate mass postings of articles known as "spam," is generally accepted by the Usenet community. This is because the Cancelmoose does not cancel articles on the basis of content, but only removes articles which are widely duplicated and waste disk space and the time of Usenet readers. He also makes reports on what is cancelled, including a full copy of the original article, and performs the cancellations in such a way that site administrators can refuse to accept them at their own sites. The Cancelpoodle, by contrast, targets specific content in its decision to cancel.) 

Dozens of postings by a.r.s critics have been cancelled by the Cancelpoodle, in many cases with a cancellation message that claims the posting is "CANCELLED BECAUSE OF COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT." Many of the articles by Scientology critics which have been cancelled, however, contained either no copyrighted material whatsoever or only brief quotations falling within the bounds of "fair use" for commentary and criticism. One of the authors of this article (Jacobsen) saw several of his critical postings which he considered fell well within the bounds of "fair use,"cancelled. One of the earliest articles cancelled by the Cancelpoodle was a "decree of the commencement of oral trial," a court document from Spain dated December 12, 1994, describing criminal proceedings initiated against COS president Heber Jentzsch, and leading Spanish Scientologists, for "felonies of illicit association, threats, coercion, usurpation of functions, false accusation, simulation of felony, illegal arrest, crimes against the Tax Administration, crimes against freedom and safety in the workplace, intrusion, crimes against the public health, injuries, damages, abuse, slander and inducement to suicide."  

After several weeks of cancellations, Netcom modified its Usenet software to make it easier to trace the origin of bogus cancellation messages. The result was that when Netcom cancelled the accounts of several abusers, cancellations began to surface from accounts at other Internet service providers. A series of cancellations posted from Deltanet, a provider based in Orange County, California were issued from an account obtained by two persons who showed up late one night at the Deltanet office shortly before it closed. They had told Deltanet that they needed immediate access, and paid in cash. The true identity-or identities-of the Cancelpoodle has yet to become public knowledge. The COS denies any knowledge or connection with these activities. Regular participants on a.r.s have responded to the Cancelpoodle by simply reposting whatever is cancelled. One regular even wrote a program which automatically posts a public notice to a.r.s about any articles which are cancelled from the newsgroup. Anonymous posters have also responded by reposting the secret church materials to a wide variety of other newsgroups on the Usenet, a tactic which has been condemned by many Scientology critics for its violation of accepted standards of "netiquette." (Skeptic: Scn vs Internet)

1995

The head of security at the Clearwater church, Bill Johnson, allegedly chases a former member through the streets, screaming death threats. He stops only when she ducks into a martial arts academy and he is barred from following. Scientology Attorney Paul B. Johnson explains that the threats were only a figure of speech. (Brief History of Scientology in Clearwater)

1995, January

RTC files a suit on Dennis Erlich and his internet service provider for violating its copyrights on the internet.  (Criminal Track)

1995, 3.1.

On January 3, Thomas Small, an attorney for the Religious Technology Center (RTC, the corporate entity that holds the copyrights and trademarks of Scientology) sent notice to the operators of anonymous remailers stating that two newsgroups were being used to violate the COS's copyrights. "The spread of infringements and misappropriations by the users will be lessened if you lock out from your systems the two newsgroups involved, alt.religion.scientology and alt.technology.clearing [sic], limiting the potential for reposting and downloading." Small's notice spoke of impending action against individual copyright infringers and suggested that remailer operators might also be the subjects of litigation. He concluded by asking that remailers "confirm that you have blocked access to these newsgroups through your remailer. If you are unwilling to do so, we ask that you inform us as to the reasons for your position." A number of remailers responded by limiting their ability to be used to post to newsgroups. (Skeptic: Scn vs Internet)

1995, 5.1.

PR 05.01.1995 23:04 - SCIENTOLOGY OFFICIALS REVEAL GROWTH OF CHURCH IN 1994

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ --

At the Church of Scientology's annual New Year's Eve celebration which is traditionally satellited to members in cities around the world, Church officials released statistics showing the growing public awareness and acceptance of Scientology.

One of the most dramatic was the increase in public awareness of the Church. In 1982, surveys revealed that only 10% of the population had heard of Scientology. By 1994, the number had jumped to 83%. Similarly, in 1982, awareness of L. Ron Hubbard's seminal work "Dianetics" was only at 20% but by 1994, had risen to 89%. Other statistics released during the New Year's Eve event included: --

One person starts an introductory service in a Scientology Church or mission every minute. Such services included courses on bettering one's ability to communicate, improving one's marriage and understanding the nature of man and his relationship to God. -- Church ministers and students delivered 1,427,000 hours of pastoral counseling in 1994. (Pastoral counseling, known as "auditing" in Scientology, is the primary religious practice in the Church. It is designed to raise the person's awareness of himself as a spiritual being and with it, his abilities, level of integrity and understanding of God.) --

Scientologists and people seeking information on the Church and the writings of Church founder Hubbard, purchased 3,162,000 books and tapes in 1994. --

The Church has 2,318 churches, missions and groups operating in 107 countries. --

Scientology is practiced in 31 languages. --

In 1994, 23 new countries were introduced to Scientology. --

There are 19 missions in Russia including the Moscow mission which has over 100 staff. --

In Russia alone, over 4,200 Dianetic counselors were trained in 1994. They helped to deliver 26,259 hours of Dianetic counseling, 20 times what was accomplished in Russia in 1993.

1995, 10.1.

On January 10, RTC attorney Helena K. Kobrin issued an "rmgroup" (remove group) control message for the alt.religion.scientology newsgroup. In the text of the message, Kobrin offered the following justification for the removal of the newsgroup: 

"it was started with a forged message; 

[it was] not discussed on alt.config; 

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; 

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." 

Since most Usenet sites don't automatically honor rmgroup commands and since several prominent Usenetters immediately issued additional "newgroup" control messages for the newsgroup, there was no negative effect on alt.religion.scientology's distribution. In fact, the attempt had the opposite effect, as it attracted the attention of site administrators and free speech activists. Many responded to Kobrin's arguments, pointing out that discussion on alt.config is not a necessity for alt newsgroups; that the forged "newgroup" was followed by non-forged "newgroup" messages; and that it is unacceptable practice to "rmgroup" a newsgroup that is receiving heavy use. Perhaps realizing this tactic to be a mistake, the church has made no further attempts to remove the newsgroup. Instead, it has followed through on its threats of litigation against individual posters mentioned in Thomas Small's notice to the anonymous remailers. (Skeptic: Scn vs Internet)

1995, 14.1.

On January 14, Tom Klemesrud visited a Los Angeles bar after returning from a convention of BBS sysops in Denver. According to Klemesrud, a woman came up to him at the bar, they began conversing, and then they went to another bar. At the second bar the woman allegedly told him that she was an IRS agent, showing him a laminated ID card with the letters "IRS" in blue. The subject of Scientology came up, and she mentioned the names of IRS agents who had been involved with the investigation of Scientology's tax-exempt status in the 1980s. Eventually, says Klemesrud, they ended up at his home where he says she asked to see his BBS because she was supposedly investigating Scientology's tax-exempt status. After asking a few questions about users of the L.A. Valley College BBS, the woman excused herself to use the bathroom. When she did not return immediately, Klemesrud says he went to check on her and saw blood on the floor through the partially opened doorway. The woman spread blood around Klemesrud's bathroom, carpets, chairs, and bed, and police were called to the scene. According to the police report, the apartment was quiet, there were bloody jeans on the hall floor, and blood was smeared in the bathroom and on the bed. Klemesrud was sitting in a chair and the woman was sitting on the bed. Klemesrud told the officers that his shotgun was in the kitchen, and they retrieved it from a closet in the kitchen area. The police report states that Klemesrud said he let her into his apartment because she claimed to be an IRS agent, and that she went into the bathroom and began cutting herself. 

He also reported that she was trying to frame him in an attempt to silence Church of Scientology critic Dennis Erlich (the police report confusedly states that Klemesrud was a "critic for" Scientology). The woman's account in the police report, on the other hand, stated that they had met in a bar the previous week and she came to his apartment that evening. She stated that he loaded his shotgun when she entered the bedroom, pointed it at her, and stated, "How do you like that, I can kill anybody I want." She explained the blood as the result of a medical problem with rectal bleeding and hemorrhoids aggravated by alcohol and stress, and denied any involvement with Scientology or acquaintance with anyone in Scientology. Klemesrud says that while he originally was under the impression that she was cutting herself in the bathroom, he is now convinced that she was cutting open "a bag, bladder, or balloon nestled in her crotch" which was filled with blood and which he both saw and poked when she turned to sit on his bed and spread blood on it. He maintains that "if this is a medical problem, then she has an intestine or artery running outside her body filled with cold almost coagulated blood."  

Klemesrud was arrested on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon and released on $30,000 bail the next morning, while the woman was allowed to leave the scene without any examination. A police detective was subsequently unable to contact her. The District Attorney rejected the charges, refusing to prosecute. (Skeptic: Scn vs Internet)

1995, 15.1.

Dennis Erlich posted a short account of the incident to a.r.s on January 15, 1995, while another version of what happened was anonymously posted on January 23 by "-AB-." The latter posting claimed that its author "called in a very big favor owed me" to obtain the name and telephone number of the woman involved in the incident with Klemesrud, and sent "a trusted friend (aspiring investigative reporter)" to interview her. This version of the story agreed with Klemesrud's account that they had only met the evening of the incident, rather than the week before. It then goes on to claim that Klemesrud had accused her of being in the CIA, threatened her with a shotgun, demanded that she have sex with him, and repeatedly telephoned the Church of Scientology until she called 911. 

Klemesrud says that he called the FBI and 911 as she single-mindedly moved repeatedly between the bathroom and the bedroom and spread blood around. He grabbed his shotgun from the corner of his bedroom and placed it in the kitchen, then hid it in the closet. He says that he never mentioned the CIA, and believed her to be an IRS agent until he first saw the blood. (Skeptic: Scn vs Internet)

1995, 23.1.

The Finnish newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, reported on February 18 that someone had broken into a Scientology computer system and stolen information that was publicly posted on the Internet via Helsingius' remailer on January 23. (Skeptic: Scn vs Internet)

1995, 24.1.

On January 24, the Los Angeles Times contacted Scientology for comment on the story, but the request was declined. That evening, however, the Church of Scientology's OSA faxed what was apparently a signed declaration by the woman involved to the Times. This declaration gives an account of the incident which is virtually identical to that posted by "-AB-," including the erroneous detail that Klemesrud had a 10-gauge shotgun (it was a 12-gauge, as described in the police report). No newspaper article on the incident was published.  

This incident raises numerous unanswered questions: Who is "-AB-"? Where did he obtain his information? Why did the Church of Scientology later fax almost exactly the same information to the Los Angeles Times? Why did the Church of Scientology take such extreme measures to obtain "-AB-"s identity? Why would a woman with no connections to Scientology give her declaration to the Church of Scientology rather than the police? (Skeptic: Scn vs Internet)

1995, 28.1.

Scientologist Russell Shaw, posted that the way to stop critics was to out-post them. "Now, I'm not talking about a paltry 100-200 posts a day. I'm talking about ENOUGH of the success stories to really 'paint over' all of the graffiti. If a particular newsgroup had 100 negative posts a day going to it, then we would need to post at least 2000-3000 success stories a day to that newsgroup." 

Recently, however, this technique has been all but abandoned, probably because it is very simple to "killfile" particular posters so that you don't see their articles at all. (Skeptic: Scn vs Internet)

1995, 29.1.

WP 29.01.1995 06:00 - Germany, Church of Scientology Feuding in Print and Political Arena

By Rick Atkinson Washington Post Foreign Service

BERLIN -- As the Church of Scientology sees it: Germany today is a repressive and intolerant place, not much different from the Third Reich of more than half a century ago in its hostility toward racial and religious minorities.

As the German government sees it: The Church of Scientology is not a church at all, but rather a dangerous cult that uses religion to cloak its money-making schemes while exploiting gullible members and threatening local communities. 

... Germany's 16 state premiers last month demanded concerted federal and state scrutiny of Scientology activities, as well as a European conference on the subject. Germany's main political organizations have banned Scientologists from membership, either nationally or in individual states. And state interior ministers last summer warned that Scientology -- which claims 30,000 members in Germany -- combines "economic activities with elements of economic criminality under the cover of a religious community."

Labor Minister Norbert Bluem has described Scientology as "a machine for manipulating human beings." Renate Rennebach, a Social Democrat member of Parliament, declared in an interview that Scientologists are "seeking political influence to dominate the world according to their view of things. . . . They're a danger to democracy."

1995, 2.2.

On February 2, 1995, Helsingius was contacted by an American representative of the Church of Scientology, informing him that his remailer had been used to publicly post information stolen from a private Scientology computer and requesting the identity of the poster. When Helsingius responded that he could not reveal that information, he was told that Interpol would be making a request to the Finnish police for the information. The next day, Finnish police contacted Helsingius requesting the same information, and informed him that a warrant would be obtained if necessary. (Skeptic: Scn vs Internet)

1995, 8.2.

On February 8, Finnish police arrived at Helsingius' home with a warrant entitling them to seize information about all users of his service, but he persuaded them to settle for the identity of the single requested poster. This marked the first time that any public authority has required a remailer to divulge the identity of a user. But what is perhaps more startling (because of their respect for privacy) is that the Finnish police almost immediately gave this information to the Church of Scientology. Helsingius reports that his legal representative received acknowledgment of receipt of the information by Scientology within an hour of divulging it to the authorities. 

The Finnish newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, reported on February 18 that someone had broken into a Scientology computer system and stolen information that was publicly posted on the Internet via Helsingius' remailer on January 23. This date led to speculation about what information taken from the church would cause the Scientologists to take such drastic measures in response. The speculation has focused around an article posted to a.r.s via anon.penet.fi on that date by someone using the name "-AB-" which has subsequently been confirmed to be the user whose identity was sought and obtained by the Church of Scientology. Oddly, this article had nothing to do with secret church teachings, but was about an incident nine days previously involving Tom Klemesrud, the system operator of the BBS used by Dennis Erlich. (Skeptic: Scn vs Internet)

1995, 13.2.

At 7:30 a.m. on the morning of February 13, 1995, a group of people showed up at the home of ex-Scientologist Dennis Erlich with a "writ of seizure." Erlich refused to answer the doorbell and called the police, but the 911 operator informed him that he had to let his morning visitors into his home because they had a warrant. Over the next 7.5 hours, Erlich's personal papers and correspondence, financial records, and computer were examined. Photocopies were made, and over 300 floppy diskettes and two 120 MB tape backups were confiscated. Numerous files were deleted from his computer, leaving it in an inoperable condition. Erlich was also served with papers declaring him the subject of a lawsuit for copyright infringement, also naming Tom Klemesrud, system operator of the L.A. Valley College Bulletin Board System (BBS) which Erlich used, and Netcom, the Internet provider for that BBS, as defendants.

Klemesrud and Netcom were named on the grounds that they should have taken action to prevent Erlich's alleged copyright violations from being posted to the Usenet. A temporary restraining order was issued against Erlich, Klemesrud, and Netcom prohibiting the publication of Scientology materials on the net.  

As early as August 1994, Erlich had exchanged correspondence with RTC attorney Small about some of his postings to a.r.s. Up until the raid, Erlich had been an active critic of the church on a.r.s, often using information from his own experiences of many years in a high position in the church, posting followup articles to anonymously posted articles containing church scriptures along with his own commentary. Erlich's follow-ups contained quotations from the anonymously posted articles to which he was responding. Small accused Erlich of violating church copyrights by posting these church scriptures without permission. Erlich responded in a September 7, 1994, letter that "I'll be happy to retract but you must first provide me with the materials whose copyrights I supposedly violated." 

RTC then persuaded Northern California District Judge Ron Whyte to approve the writ of seizure used to raid Erlich's home. (Skeptic: Scn vs Internet)

Accompanied by police officers with a writ of seizure, RTC reps enter the home of Dennis Erlich in Glendale, California. The RTC reps are Warren McShane, Thomas Small and Paul Wilmhurst. They seize all material he has on the subject of Scientology. 

The raid on Erlich’s home and the suit galvanized many internet users against the Church of Scientology. New web pages were created posting affidavits from other Scientology cases. As one commentator pointed out The church made enemies of a host of people who had previously not even registered its existence."  (Criminal Track)

1995, 14.2.

In a posting to a.r.s on February 14, 1995, Helena Kobrin justified the raid on the grounds that "Erlich has repeatedly posted published and unpublished materials on the alt.religion.scientology newsgroup which are subject to copyrights registered with the United States Copyright Office. Attempts by my clients to engage Mr. Erlich in any meaningful dialogue have met with an absolute refusal to communicate-he would not even speak with my clients' representatives." Other Scientologists on the net began a campaign to discredit Erlich, posting allegations that he had abused his wife and children and even killed his pets. 

After initial hearings, Klemesrud and Netcom were dropped from the temporary restraining order, and Judge Whyte made it clear that Dennis Erlich still had the right to post to a.r.s and comment on Scientology materials so long as he stays within the bounds of "fair use." After Erlich posted some additional Scientology materials to the net, the church filed a motion to have him declared in contempt of court. The San Francisco law firm of Morrison and Foerster took on Erlich's case, and through their efforts Judge Whyte suspended further motions in the case until a hearing scheduled for June 23, 1995. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has set up a Dennis Erlich Defense Fund to assist Erlich in paying his court costs. (Skeptic: Scn vs Internet)

Los Angeles Times Tuesday February 14, 1995 - By Alan Abrahamson and Nicholas Riccardi

GLENDALE - Led by a lawyer brandishing a federal court order and backed up by a pair of off-duty police officers, a handful of Church of Scientology representatives searched a Glendale house Monday and seized hundreds of computer disks and files allegedly containing copyrighted religious texts.

In the latest twist to a fractious dispute that began in cyberspace and landed last week at a federal courthouse in San Jose, Scientologists spent six hours Monday searching the house of Dennis Erlich, an outspoken critic of the church, for material they believed he transmitted, or intended to transmit, on the Internet about the Los Angeles-based church....

1995, 18.2.

Helsingin Sanomat, 18 - Feb - 1995 - Tuomo Pietilainen

The investigators of Bureau of Investigations in Helsinki (police) have confiscated sender information from a link on the internet in Helsinki.

The police took information last weeks wednesday from the server maintained by Penetic Inc., Finland, from which people could send anonymous messages and information throughout the world.

The police acted upon a request of investigation made by the international church of scientology. The HQ of CoS claims that an unknown person has penetrated into the computer system of the church itself in the United States and has stolen a rapport that is classified as "business security" (*)....

1995, 22.2.

Los Angeles Times Wednesday February 22, 1995 - POSTCARD FROM CYBERSPACE / DANIEL AKST

The Helsinki Incident and the Right to Anonymity - By DANIEL AKST

Something happened recently on the Internet that no doubt sent chills down an awful lot of spines. A government used its power to breach anon.penet.fi.

[snip]

According to Helsingius, authorities in his country were investigating an allegation by the Church of Scientology that anon.penet.fi had been used to make public private information taken from a church computer.

You'll recall that the controversial Los Angeles-based church provoked anger on the Internet not long ago when a church attorney attempted to obliterate the newsgroup alt.religion.scientology, a well-known gathering place for church critics in which anonymous postings are common. Armed with a court order, church officials also seized computer disks from the Glendale home of a church critic whom they accused of violating copyright law by posting church materials on the Net.

Helsingius refused at first to knuckle to the church's demands, but he says the search warrant gave Finnish authorities the right to seize his computer, which contains the identity of all 200,000 people who have sent messages through anon.penet.fi during its 2 1/2 years of existence. Faced with a potentially catastrophic loss of confidentiality--anon.penet.fi processes more than 7,000 messages daily, mostly for Americans--Helsingius and his attorney negotiated a compromise: On Feb. 8, he gave police the single identity in question.

Within the hour, Helsingius reports, a church representative told him the church had the name. (A church spokeswoman contacted would say only that "we took actions to handle illegal posting," insisting that her organization was simply defending its rights. As for anonymous posting, the spokeswoman added, "People should be responsible for what they do.")

...

If The Church of Scientology got the real name of the party in question from US authorities, they did so illegally. A commander at the Los Angeles Police Department said he knew nothing of the LAPD cooperating with Interpol on this matter. This is not to say someone in the 10 thousand member department did not; but, if they did relay the name to the Church of Scientology, they would have done so illegally. Handing the name of a suspect in a criminal investigation over to a civilian agency (CoS is not law enforcement--as they would have use believe), is a crime. The FBI would never legally turn the information over to civilians either. It would seem that CoS is misstating the truth by saying the know the identity of the particular anonymous poster. If they do, it comes from unauthorized rogue agent(s) inside law enforcement.

1995, 28.2.

APf 02/28 2342 Finland-Internet - By MATTI HUUHTANEN - Associated Press Writer

HELSINKI, Finland (AP) -- Police have seized data from a computer operator who helps people mask their identities on the Internet, firing a new shot in the war over computer privacy.

The action last month has drawn protests from Internet users, who said it was the first time police have forced one of the so-called "anonymity servers" to help an investigation.

But police insisted Tuesday that they operated within the law when seizing a computer address on Feb. 8 from the service run in Helsinki by private computer consultant Johan Helsingius.

"It's a wild network as far as we're concerned," said Police Inspector Harri Pulkkinen. "We were asked to look into an alleged crime, and that's what we did."

At the request of California police and the Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology, Finnish police ordered Helsingius to hand over information that might help them identify an Internet user who allegedly had stolen files from the church's computer in Los Angeles in January.

Police said they believed the stolen material was distributed through Helsingius' computer in Helsinki to thousands of users on the global computer network.

[snip]

But before ending the probe, police relayed Helsingius' information back to California police via Interpol. They also turned over the information to the Helsinki representative of the Church of Scientology, Pulkkinen said.

Asked why Finnish police gave the private information to another private party, Pulkkinen answered that the original complaint had come from the scientologists.

[end AP citation]

It appears here that the Finnish police supplied the name of the person sought to the CoS, not the US police authorities, for in the US this is a breach of law. Pulkkinen was in contact with Interpol for the authority to perpetrate the raid, and a CoS attorney, to give the information to--perhaps for a price. With all due respect, the US police are not the culprits in this. It is generally known by the upper echelons of law enforcement in the US that Scientology is a Racketerring Influenced Corrupt Organization. Perhaps the Finnish Police should be informed of this. And, if something happens to -AB-, it is the Finnish Police at blame. Interpol has clearly defined guidelines in these matters, and they would be out of line to suggest to the Finnish Police that they hand over the name of a US citizen--contrary to US law--to the infamous "Church" of Scientology.

I have from a reliable source, that the one name sought from the anonymous name server was an144108 nickname (-AB-), and the "stolen document" was the declaration of Linda W concerning the blood attack on Sysop of Support.COM.

1995, 13.3.

On March 13, the authors of this article along with three others picketed the Scientology building in Mesa, Arizona to protest the church's treatment of alt.religion.scientology. The Scientologists called the police, but since picketing is legal in the U.S. provided it is done in an orderly manner, the policeman advised the picketers not to cause any disruptions and left. The picketing was quiet and no disruptions or arguments occurred. Just before the protest ended, the Scientologists photographed each of the picketers. As the picketers left the scene, a man with a camera waited to take photographs of their cars as they drove by, perhaps to obtain license plate numbers. The protest was relatively uneventful, and prompted one article in the Religion section of the Scottsdale Tribune on March 18. (Skeptic: Scn vs Internet)

1995, 18.3.

Scottsdale [Arizona] Tribune 3/18/95

"Scientologists, Internet users square off over computer missives" by Kelly Ettenborough

A small skirmish in the ongoing fight between Internet users and the Church of Scientology International erupted in the Valley this week. 

Five local Internet users picketed the Church of Scientology of Arizona, in Mesa, earlier this week to protest the international church's efforts to close down their "newsgroup" on the Internet. The Internet, accessed by computer and modem, contains about 6,000 newsgroups on different topics in which people leave messages and information. The newsgroup in question is alt.religion.scientology, also known as a.r.s. 

Earlier this year, Scientology church officials requested it be eliminated after copyrighted church documents were posted on the Internet. The protesters also said the church doesn't want any critical messages about the church posted on the newsgroup. "Basically it's a freedom of speech issue where the church decides that critics on the Internet should not have a voice, therefore they tried to close our newsgroup down," said Jeff Jacobsen, a Scottsdale resident and one of the protesters. About 60 percent of the users of the newsgroup are critics of the church, Jacobsen said. Lisa Goodman, media relations director for the Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology International, said copyright infringement, not freedom of speech, is the issue. 

The church filed suit against Dennis Erlich of Glendale, Calif. after he continued posting church materials on the Internet. In asking for the newsgroup to be shut down, a church attorney cited the use of the church trademark "Scientology" in its name, the release of "copyright and trade secret violations" and "flamers" who use the forum to attack the church. "They are posting illegally obtained, copyrighted church scriptures. They don't really care about who is affected or anything else," Goodman said. "The problem with the Internet is it is open to abuse, and they violate the laws of the land." Goodman called the messages posted by flamers a form of hate crime. "It's not a matter of global freedom of expression. It's cyber terrorism," she said. Jacobsen is a local contact for Cults [sic] Awareness Network, a group that considers Scientology a cult, but he said the protest at the Mesa church wasn't about the church's beliefs or teachings. 

"The whole point of the Internet is the idea that freedom of speech is the ultimate important thing. When one newsgroup is attacked, then everyone gets upset," he said. "It obviously goes from the Internet to the real world." The newsgroup had not been shut down, and the response from Internet administrators was to invite church members to post their own messages in response to critics. John DeNero, director of special affairs of the Church of Scientology of Arizona, 2311 [actually 2111] W. University Drive, Mesa, called the demonstration a curiosity. "It's not really a local issue," he said. "It really has nothing to do with our local church so I ask, why are they here to cause disruption to the local church?... You have to wonder what their real concern is." One protester shouted at cars during the demonstration, DeNero said, so the church called the police, who came down and talked to them. The protesters met on the Internet, and not all are users of alt.religion.scientology. Internationally, the church has about 8 million members, Goodman said. Several thousand people in Arizona are members of the church, DeNero said.

1995, 23.3.

APn 23.03.1995 09:03 - Allstate-Scientology

NORTHBROOK, Ill. (AP) -- He was a dynamic, results-oriented management consultant who urged rewarding productive employees and punishing laggards. That sounded good to Allstate Corp. in 1989.

Six years later, the insurance company admits it made a mistake by allowing Donald Pearson to teach "unacceptable" Church of Scientology management principles to its agents and supervisors.

"We dropped the ball," Allstate spokesman Al Orendorff said Wednesday. "We should have managed that part of it better and didn't."But the company denied allegations that some employees were hounded, intimidated and wrongfully fired as a result of the training program. ...

More than 3,500 Allstate employees took part in Pearson's training program from 1989-1993, learning to disregard ethics in the quest for greater productivity, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. ...

More than two dozen agents have filed lawsuits or Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaints alleging fraud, harassment or discrimination by Allstate, often in connection with wrongful-discharge claims, the Journal reported. ...

1995, 24.3.

On March 24, however, Eugene Ingram, Scientology's principal private investigator, showed up at the place of employment of one of the authors (Jacobsen) and began taking photographs. Recognizing Ingram, Jacobsen immediately asked him, "Do you have a warrant for your arrest in Tampa, Florida?" Ingram replied, "Not anymore." Jacobsen then checked and confirmed that the Tampa warrant for Ingram's arrest for allegedly impersonating a police officer was still valid, but Ingram had left. The next evening, Ingram visited Jacobsen's sister's home and asked about Jacobsen's financial status. He was told to leave and did so. Ingram was next seen driving through Jacobsen's neighborhood in such an unusual and frequent manner that neighbors called the police. At one point, Ingram questioned a 13-year-old neighbor, asking him if he knew Jacobsen, and showing him one of the photographs taken on March 24. Ingram did not question any of the adults who were present outside the home at the same time as the young teen. (Skeptic: Scn vs Internet)

1995 26.3.-20.3.

For several weeks, a group of pro-Scientology posters seemed intent on overwhelming a.r.s with off-topic posts, single paragraph posts of questionable interest, and single sentence follow-ups to long articles which requote the entire posting being replied to. Between March 26 and March 30, 1995, for example, just two of these mass posters placed 139 articles on a.r.s between them, for an average of 28 per day. (Skeptic: Scn vs Internet)

1995, 28.3.

On March 28, Jacobsen was served with a subpoena ordering him to be deposed by Scientology's in-house attorneys regarding a case filed by the director of the Cult Awareness Network against a cult front group. (Skeptic: Scn vs Internet)

1995, April

in 1995, Richard Weigand (one of the eleven Scientologists convicted in 1979) was listed in internal Scientology publications as currently heading up a project in Colombia, and was active on TNX-L, a private Scientology Internet mailing list, as recently as April of 1995. (Brief History of Scientology in Clearwater)

More extreme responses have also occurred. Church attorneys have sent letters suggesting potential legal actions for copyright violations against at least four other critics. Another a.r.s critic, Grady Ward, received an unannounced visit on April 14 from two Scientologists at his Arcata, California, home. One of the Scientologists, Jeff Quiros of the San Francisco Church of Scientology's OSA, drove five hours to Arcata only to leave and return to San Francisco after Ward phoned police without speaking to him. (Skeptic: Scn vs Internet)

One of the most recent tactics adopted by Scientologists on a.r.s has been to criticize anonymous posters or those using pseudonyms, as well as investigate them and reveal their real names. In one case, a user posting under the name TarlaStar was shocked to find her real name posted to a.r.s by Scientologist Andrew Milne after receiving a strange phone call from someone named "Judy" claiming to be an employee of Internet Oklahoma, her network access provider. (Internet Oklahoma employs no one named Judy.) She was further surprised and angered when Scientologist "Vera Wallace" (a pseudonym) reposted not only her real name, but her home address and telephone number. Wallace wrote to a.r.s on April 11 that "It is Andrew's right, as it is mine, to post the name of anyone who is hiding behind a phony name while spewing forth lies...No one is telling you to stop your tirades, but at the same time, no one can tell me not to find out who you really are and publish your name for all to see." Other Scientologists on a.r.s have made similar condemnations of anonymous posting, contradicting a statement by Los Angeles church spokeswoman Karin Pouw in a February 28 AP story that "We have nothing against anonymous posters...It's a great freedom and the right of everyone to communicate as long as anonymity is not used to cover up a crime." (Skeptic: Scn vs Internet)

1995, 4.4.

On April 4, Jacobsen received a telephone call from his local phone company, reporting that someone claiming to be him had made three attempts to access computer data from his phone bill. These attempts were unsuccessful only because he had previously placed a pass code on his phone accounts on the advice of another church critic who had been subjected to the same intelligence-gathering technique. These events suggest that the Church of Scientology took the protest more seriously than an outsider might imagine. (Skeptic: Scn vs Internet)

1995, 20.4.

Date: 20 Apr 1995 13:36:59 +0200 - Subject: French IRS vs. French Scientology : Scientology looses and vanishes

From: marin@ccr.jussieu.fr (Emmanuel MARIN) - Newsgroups: soc.culture.french,alt.religion.scientology - Organization: CCR - Universities Paris VI/VII - Paris - France

It is very likely that there won't be any French scientology left very soon.

Taken from today's "Evenement du Jeudi" :

The cult has to pay 90.000.000 F (about 17.000.000 $) to the French IRS and has lost all the juridical tricks it attempted to avoid this.

So the US scientology is coming to the rescue. Monique Yingling, the advocate of the International CoS, has proposed to buy the French CoS.

The project proposes the creation of two new entities : the New CoS of Paris, and the New Spiritual Association of Scientology of Paris. The former has a 'cultural vocation', and the latter has the vocation to continue the activity of the current French CoS. Note the change in the names to create the confusion : the 'New CoS of Paris' won't be the New 'CoS of Paris', in fact the New 'CoS of Paris' will be the 'New Spiritual..'

Both groups will be owned mostly (99%) by the International CoS , while the French CoS will only have the 1% left. The International CoS proposes to pay the French IRS 90 MF + 10 MF so that everything happens as they want to.

And here is where everything is complex, because the French law normally doesn't authorize such a buy, because the French CoS legally is a 1901-law association (no tax, no profit, etc...). Even if the French CoS has been condamned because it made profits. But if the French judges refuse the buy, the CoS will be able to claim that, see, we are legally a non-profit association, and the payment we must pay the IRS is pure nonsense.

The decision will be known in a week.

What will be interesting to watch is the reaction of the intellectuals...

After the Jehovah Witnesses, it's now the turn of the CoS to be denied the status of religion by the French courts. Will there be someone to call French fascists because of that ? 

1995, May 

Julie Mayo is held at customs and interrogated for 5 hours based on a false report (from OSA operatives) that she was drug smuggling.  (Criminal Track)

1995, 14.5.

Randy McDonald writes a High Crime Report on David Miscavige, Chairman of the Board of RTC and Jim Morrow, Tax Compliance Officer of OSA Int. 

Randy’s report says that Jim Morrow attempted to justify the existence of Scientology Policy Directive 2 May 1994 Personal Income Taxes by saying that it was based on the secret IRS agreement.

Randy’s report also says that Miscavige is guilty of withholding vital information for keeping the details of the IRS agreement a secret from other Scientologists.  (Criminal Track)

1995, 15.5.

Randy McDonald writes a High Crime Report on Jim Morrow and Ray Mithoff, Senior C/S Int.

In his report he quotes HCOPL 5 March 1965 Policy Source Of:  "If it is not in an HCO Policy Letter, it is not policy." 

Randy’s report says that since there is no HCOPL that establishes anything called Scientology Policy Directives, that all SPDs are an unauthorized type of issue.

Note: There are actually hundreds of these SPDs. Not only are they not authorized by LRH, but a study of them shows they are either: 

1. Redundant (because it was already covered in HCOPLs)
2. Conflicting with HCOPLs.

The following High Crime is being committed by those who write and follow SPDs:

"Running any organization on squirrel "policy" or third dynamic administrative or management procedures that are contrary to approved policy."

Hereafter, Randy McDonald would not shut up about top management being off source. He is not alone. There have been hundreds of Scientologists who have noticed that top management is off-source and is guilty of squirreling both policy and tech.

Top management’s solution to Randy McDonald noticing they were off source, was the same solution they have used on hundreds of other Scientologists who have noticed they are off source. Their solution is – discredit the person reporting on them.

The following pattern has emerged:

1. A Scientologist notices upper level management is off source and squirreling policy/tech.
2. The Scientologist applies KSW and writes reports.
3. Nothing is corrected. Instead, the Scientologist gets beat up in ethics until he shuts up.
4. If the Scientologist won’t back down and continues to apply KSW, they start a black PR campaign against him, to discredit him in the eyes of other Scientologists. It should be understood that the Black PR campaign consists of one or more lies they invented about the person. They falsely accuse him of doing things that he never did.
   The purpose of this Black PR campaign is to get other Scientologists to think he is a bad hat. This results in cutting the person’s comm lines so that he cannot alert other Scientologists to the squirreling being done by upper level management. 
   It also ensures that no one will defend him when they attack him with a comm ev.
5. Covert Knowledge Reports (KRs) are written on the person, containing false data, and the person is not given a copy of them so he can correct them and defend himself.
6. Black Dianetics and/or reverse processing is often done on the person in an effort to cave him in or make him crazy.  (Criminal Track)
7. A Committee of Evidence is called on the person, based on the false reports. The comm ev is also squirrel in that they have their orders to find the person guilty. In other words, it is not a fact-finding body as intended in policy. They have already made up their minds and are just going through the necessary motions.
8. Quite often the person is refused a copy of the Bill of Particulars. This violates policy.
   This also violates any concept of justice because the person does not know what he is charged with and therefore cannot prepare a defense.
9. The Comm Ev is held for a few days without the person’s knowledge. Then, the person is given short notice to appear before the Comm Ev, even though they are thousands of miles away, have to quickly arrange for time off work, etc. This gives them no time to prepare a defense.
10. The person’s requests for copies of the KRs against him, are refused. The Comm Ev takes no interest in the fact that there are false reports in the KRs being used to Comm Ev the person.
11. The Comm Ev is sent to International Justice Chief and gets stale dated for months.
12. The person is either expelled or his comm ev just remains stale dated forever, with no findings and recommendations being released.
13. The Comm Ev charges are then used as further black PR against the person. Ethics tells other Scientologists about the charges, to further cut his comm line with other Scientologists. Confessional data out of the person’s pc folder is also presented to other Scientologists to further black PR the person.

The end result of the above "ethics" and "justice" actions is a perversion of Scientology ethics. The purpose of ethics is to get tech in. Not to protect squirrels. But, since the squirrels in this situation are senior to org ethics officers, org ethics officers have been powerless to do anything about the squirrels.

Thus, top management has also squirreled Scientology ethics. They use it to attack Scientologists who are reporting on their squirreling, instead of its true purpose given by LRH in policy, to get tech in. 

In the area of tech, they have re-written over a thousand of LRH’s technical issues, in addition to that they have massively altered LRH taped lectures.

The number of alterations is so massive that we cannot include them all in this time track. We are only including a few of the alterations on this time track, to serve as an example of their squirreling. It should be understood that the amount of squirreling is not limited to our examples on this time track.

Thus, top management has turned all of Scientology into a squirrel group, in all 3 areas. Squirrels are at the top of the command lines and this has resulted in all orgs being run on squirrel admin, squirrel tech, and squirrel ethics.

Any Scientologist who tries to report on the squirreling and attempts to apply KSW, is done away with in the manner stated above, because the squirrels are at the top and in command.

The above sounds pretty fantastic, doesn’t it? But, you don’t have to believe us. You can personally find out if it is true. Pick up any one of a thousand pieces of tech they have altered. Write a High Crime report on Miscavige and insist the tech be put back the way LRH wrote it. Hold your ground. Now start telling other Scientologists about the out tech. And you too can watch all of the above happen to you.

As stated earlier, there are hundreds of Scientologists who have noticed that Miscavige and his top aides are squirrels and they have been handled by "ethics" as above. Each of their individual stories would take a time track all by themselves, so there is no effort here to include all of the details on this time track. If you want to know their individual stories about how they were treated when they applied KSW, ask them. It’s an eye-opener.  (Criminal Track)

1995, 30.5.

PR 30.05.1995 19:29 - UNPRECEDENTED COALITION OF RELIGIOUS GROUPS TELLS U.

NEW YORK, May 30 /PRNewswire/ -- A wide-ranging group of 60 sectarian and civic organizations spanning the religious and ideological spectrum today filed a brief with the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit urging reversal of a decision holding the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) unconstitutional.

AJCongress prepared the brief on behalf of its partners, organized into the Coalition for the Free Exercise of Religion.

RFRA requires that government justify burdens on religious practice. It has been widely characterized as the most important piece of religious liberty legislation enacted in many years. But in March U.S. District Court Judge Lucius D. Bunton, in the case of Flores v City of Boerne (Tx), held the Act unconstitutional.

In that case, a Catholic church invoked RFRA in a challenge to its designation as a historic landmark, which prevented its expansion to meet the needs of its parishioners. The court ruled that Congress lacks the power to protect religious liberty from infringement by the states. 

Disagreeing emphatically, AJCongress and its partners maintain in their brief that in "enacting RFRA Congress was enforcing a right with firm roots in constitutional text and history."

"No brief to our knowledge has been so widely endorsed by such a broad variety of religious and civil liberties organizations as we see in this case," declared AJCongress Executive Director Phil Baum. "The ability of these groups with often substantially differing agendas to work together so closely shows the overwhelming support for RFRA in this country and how the court decision overturning it flies in the face of the Constitution."

The Coalition for the Free Exercise of Religion is remarkably broad.

Among its members are:

-- AJCongress, the U.S. Catholic Conference, Baptists, Southern Baptists, the Christian Legal Society, Union of American Hebrew Congregations, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations;

-- Also the Church of the Brethren, Church of Scientology International, Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church, Friends, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, Seventh-day Adventists, and the National Association of Evangelicals;

-- Also the Rabbinical Council of America, National Council of Churches, Unitarian Universalist Association, Federation of Reconstructionist Congregations, United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church, as well as Christian, Jewish and secular public policy organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union and People For the American Way.

-- Other religions organizations include those representing Muslims, the Guru Gobind Singh Foundation, and the National Sikh Center.

The Coalition now fighting for the upholding of the Act was originally responsible for drafting it. On behalf of the Coalition, AJCongress filed over a dozen briefs around the country in support of the constitutionality of RFRA.

Today's brief emphasizes Congress' power to enforce "the majestic, guarantees" of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Taking a historic tour through some of the key Supreme Court decisions in American history, AJCongress' brief declares that the drafters of the Fourteenth Amendment, which became law following the Civil War, "consciously set about protecting the free exercise of religion."

As a result, the brief argues, "In enacting RFRA, Congress was not creating a right out of whole cloth, or enforcing a right without foundation in the Fourteenth Amendment, one the Framers intended to exclude, or one inconsistent with the purpose of the Fourteenth Amendment. On the contrary," the Coalition argues, "RFRA was well within Congress' power to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment."

The brief was prepared by Marc D. Stern, Co-Director of the Commission of Law and Social Action of the American Jewish Congress.

Serving Of Counsel were the legal departments of the National Council of Churches, Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs, Christian Legal Society, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, Home School Defense Association, American Jewish Committee, People For the American Way, American Civil Liberties Union, Liberty Counsel, and Agudath Israel of America.

The case is expected to be heard this summer.

A complete list of coalition members follows: COALITION FOR THE FREE EXERCISE OF RELIGION

• Agudath Israel of America
• American Association of Christian Schools
• American Civil Liberties Union
• American Conference on Religious Movements
• American Humanist Association
• American Jewish Committee
• American Jewish Congress
• American Muslim Council
• Americans for Democratic Action
• Americans for Religious Liberty
• Americans United for Separation of Church and State
• Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith
• Association of American Indian Affairs
• Association of Christian Schools International
• Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs
• B'nai B'rith
• Central Conference of American Rabbis
• Christian Church - Capital Area
• Christian Legal Society
• Christian Life Commission, Southern Baptist Convention
• Christian Science Committee on Publication
• Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Church of the Brethren
• Church of Scientology International
• Coalition for Christian Colleges and Universities
• Coalitions for America
• Concerned Women for America
• Council of Jewish Federations
• Council on Religious Freedom
• Criminal Justice Policy Foundation
• Episcopal Church
• Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
• Federation of Reconstructionist Congregations and Havurot
• Friends Committee on National Legislation
• General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
• Guru Gobind Singh Foundation
• Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, Inc.
• Home School Legal Defense Association
• Honorable Jerrold Nadler, M.C.
• International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists
• International Institute for Religious Freedom
• Jesuit Social Ministries, National Office
• Justice Fellowship
• Liberty Counsel
• Mennonite Central Committee U.S.
• National Association of Evangelicals
• National Council of Churches
• National Council of Jewish Women
• National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods
• National Jewish Commission on Law and Public Affairs
• National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council
• National Sikh Center
• Native American Church of North America
• North American Council for Muslim Women
• People For the American Way Action Fund
• Rabbinical Council of America
• Soka-Gakkai International - USA
• Traditional Values Coalition
• Union of American Hebrew Congregations
• Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America
• Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
• United Church of Christ, Office for Church in Society
• United Methodist Church, Board of Church & Society
• United States Catholic Conference
• United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

-0- 5/30/95/CONTACT: Stephen Steiner, Director of Communications of AJCongress, 212-360-1540/CO: AJCongress; Coalition for the Free Exercise of Religion ST: New York IN: SU: LEG - Copyright 1995 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

1995, Summer 

Scamizdat, an electronic magazine with anonymous editors, and other internet providers, posted OT documents to sites throughout the internet. The Fishman affidavit appeared on servers throughout the world.  (Criminal Track)

1995, 23.6.

Judge Whyte in RTC v Netcom rules that HCO Manual of Justice was not entitled to copyright protection. The 1959 copyright notice had gone beyond the original 28 year term and expired in 1987 and no renewal was timely obtained.  (Criminal Track)

1995, 7.7.

In order to draw attention off of their High Crimes of writing and enforcing Scientology Policy Directives, OSA attacks Randy McDonald and 6 other Scientologists, falsely accusing them of being tax protestors. (Criminal Track)

1995, 21.7.

APn 21.07.1995 05:30 - Canada-Libel 

OTTAWA (AP) -- The Supreme Court on Thursday affirmed Canada's largest libel award, rejecting calls for U.S.-style defamation laws that would provide greater protection from libel suits.

The court dismissed an appeal by the Church of Scientology and its lawyer, Morris Manning, of the 1991 award of $1.2 million to Casey Hill, then an Ontario government attorney. ...

1995, 31.7.

The Fishman affidavit, containing OT materials, reappears on alt.religion.scientology.  (Criminal Track)

1995, August 

F.A.C.T.Net is a nonprofit archive with an electronic bulletin board service on the internet. Arnaldo Lerma is a board member. Lerma posted the Fishman affidavit on the internet.  (Criminal Track)

1995, 11.8.

RTC files suit for copyright infringement against Lerma and his internet provider. An Arlington, Virginia court ordered the seizure of Lerma’s personal computer, floppy disks, and any copies of Scientology’s copyrighted works found in his home. The judge in the case was not aware that Lerma’s postings were based on a publicly available document. RTC execs, accompanied by federal marshals, searched and confiscated these materials from Lerma’s home.  (Criminal Track)

1995, 12.8.

Raid on Arnie Lerma

1995, 19.8.

WP 19.08.1995 06:00 - Church in Cyberspace; Its Sacred Writ Is on the Net. Its Lawyers Are on the Case.

1995, 22.8.

WP 22.08.1995 06:00 - Speech in Electronic Space

AS USE OF the Internet grows, one thing that's becoming uncomfortably clearer is just how much of existing communications and copyright law depends on the physical limitations of records and publications kept on paper. A copyright infringement suit brought recently in Alexandria, concerning dissemination via the Internet of supposedly secret and copyrighted documents belonging to the Church of Scientology, brings some of these newly problematic issues into sharp relief. It's only one of a string of recent cases that show how much things are changing because of the new medium and how difficult it will be to enforce existing law by existing mechanisms.

In the Scientology case, a federal judge in Alexandria ordered marshals to seize the computer equipment of a man who had allegedly transmitted an unpublished but copyrighted "secret" text about Scientology, containing theological precepts and instructions, to a computer "newsgroup," or public space, from which it was instantaneously copied by thousands of other computer users all over the world. A lawyer for the church told the New York Times, "There are people out there who think the Internet has created a new medium where all the rules go away, and it's not true." (...) Copyright 1995 The Washington Post

1995, 31.8.

WP 31.08.1995 06:00 - Court Lets Post Keep Scientology Texts - By Charles W. Hall - Washington Post Staff Writer

A federal judge in Alexandria yesterday permitted The Washington Post to retain a copy of Church of Scientology texts and to use them in its news reporting, saying the paper's news-gathering rights far outweigh claims that the documents are protected by copyright and trade secrecy laws.

U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema refused to issue a preliminary injunction against The Post, saying its excerpts of the church's texts in an Aug. 19 Style section article were brief and did not diminish the texts' value to the worldwide church.

The article, which reported on lawsuits filed by the church to prevent critics from putting its texts on the Internet computer network, included brief quotations from Scientology documents obtained from a federal court file in Los Angeles.

"The public interest lies with the unfettered ability of The Post to report on the news," Brinkema wrote. "The article contained only scant quotations. . . . Scientologists in search of advanced training could not possibly consider these short quotes as substitutes for the full texts."

The church originally sued Arnaldo Lerma, 41, of Arlington, a former church member who put portions of the texts on the Internet. On Aug. 12, U.S. marshals seized computer equipment and files from Lerma's home after Scientology lawyers argued that Lerma might possess protected trade secrets and copyrighted material.

Brinkema found it likely that The Post's story on that and other Scientology suits would fall within the "fair use" doctrine, which balances the rights of copyright holders with the public need for information in areas of widespread interest.

Mary Ann Werner, vice president and counsel for The Post, said news organizations generally are entitled to publish brief excerpts so long as the quotations are not so extensive as to damage the copyright's financial value.

"We used this material in a very limited and judicious way," Werner said. "There is no valid claim that we violated their copyrights or trade secrets."

The church, which was founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard and includes as members celebrities John Travolta, Tom Cruise and Lisa Marie Presley-Jackson, has gone to extraordinary lengths to protect the documents.

When a federal judge in Los Angeles refused to seal a court file containing the texts, five Scientologists checked the file out daily to prevent others from reading and copying the material.

After The Post succeeded in copying 103 pages from the court file on Aug. 14, and then used brief portions in its article, Scientology added the newspaper and reporters Marc Fisher and Richard Leiby to its suit against Lerma, seeking to prevent further publication of its texts.

Despite yesterday's ruling, the overall lawsuit is still pending. Copyright 1995 The Washington Post

1995, 5.9.

Amsterdam - thuesday september 5, 1995.

Police and members of Scientology church enter offices of XS4ALL

PRESS RELEASE - From: XS4ALL Internet

Today at about 14:00, XS4ALL was visited by Mr. S. Braan, bailiff. He was acting on behalf of the Religious Technology Centre, better known as the Scientology Church, or Scientology for short. He was assisted by a local police officer and Mr. Hermans from the 'Nauta-Dutilh' legal firm that represents Scientology in The Netherlands. Also present were two computer experts (Mr. Ootjes and Mr. Van Suchtelen) a locksmith (to enter had we not been present) and two American employees of Scientology, Mr. Weightman and Ms. Jenssen.

Scientology is filing for seizure of XS4ALL's computer equipment. Under dutch law, this means that a bailiff comes in to record your assets. In real-life, the computer-experts that were present have recorded the types and serial numbers of all the computers in our offices. They did not take any equipment, the continuity of XS4ALL's services is not in jeopardy.

What is this all about?

The Scientology Church claims that the XS4ALL anonymous remailer was used to disseminate documents over the Internet to which the church holds the legal copyright. This has led the church to ask the president of the district court of Amsterdam to grant permission for this seizure as a prelude to legal procedures concerning damages suffered by the church.

The remailer in question has been disabled more than 2 months ago.

During the visit of Scientology to XS4ALL this afternoon, the remailer was not the subject of any conversation. The organization seemed totally preoccupied with the information about Scientology that one of our users has put on his home page. Part of this information is said to be a file to which Scientology holds the copyright. If we were to delete the file in question on the spot, they were willing to drop the seizure.

Responsibility of Internet Providers

XS4ALL categorically denies any responsibility for contents of users' homepages. The users decide for themselves what is on their homepage.

Since XS4ALL does not edit the homepages and has no mechanism of control over the contents we strongly feel that the users themselves are responsible for what they say on their homepage.

This whole affair demonstrates the need for clarity concerning the legal postion of Internet Providers. We are shocked that our offices can be invaded by freshly flown-in U.S. cult members. If we as Internet providers are held responsible for what our users say, that will undoubtedly kill freedom of speech on the net.

Scare-tactics

XS4ALL is not alone in receiving this kind of attention from Scientology. Scientology, a semi-religious multinational, is at war with a number of people on the Internet. A non-organized group of people on the net has started to openly discuss the activities of the church.

Until recently, the church has always managed to supress critical voices by means of sheer intimidation and by engaging in endless legal battle.

One of the people that Scientology has a problem with is 'fonss', an XS4ALL user that publishes the F.A.C.T.-net Kit on his home page (http://www.xs4all.nl/~fonss). This kit (which can be found on numerous homepages all over the Internet) consists of a large number of documents that show the true face of Scientology.

One of these documents is a piece to which Scientology supposedly holds the copyright and which has been added to the kit without the church's permission.

1995, 13.9.

Denver Post, 13.9.95 - SCIENTOLOGISTS LOSE IN COURT - by Peter G. Chronis, Denver Post Staff Writer

The Church of Scientology lost its federal court battle yesterday against a former church member whose materials were seized in a raid last month.

U.S. District Judge John Kane ordered the immediate return of computer equipment and other items that federal marshals seized Aug. 22 from Lawrence Wollersheim, a former Scientologist who has become a critic of the religion. Wollersheim claimed that the names of alleged victims of the church were on the computer disks.

Wollersheim, of Boulder, ran a computerized "library" on religious cults. The Church of Scientology had accused Wollersheim and Bob Penny of Niwot, also a former Scientologist, of illegally posting copyrighted, confidential church teachings on the Internet to discredit the church, founded by the late science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard.

Among Kane's findings were:

The plaintiffs didn't show a likelihood that they would succeed on their claims of copyright and trade-secret violations. Rather, Kane said, it appeared the defendants were covered by the "fair use" provision of the copyright law, which allows use of copyrighted materials for "criticism, comment or research."

The Scientologists hadn't presented evidence that the materials are a trade secret under Colorado law.

There was no showing of "irreparable injury." The defendants weren't using the materials commercially, and the church wouldn't suffer a competitive disadvantage. "The threat of injury to the plaintiffs does not outweigh the harm to the defendants," Kane said. But there was a showing of potential harm and injury by prohibiting the functioning of FACT Net, Wollersheim's business.

Kane's ruling is "only the beginning," said Wollersheim. "We will stand up to them. What they did was outrageous. They raided a library and archive on false premises. Now they're going to have to suffer the consequences." He vowed to file countersuits.

After the ruling, Scientology attorney Earle Cooley asked that the decision be delayed, pending an appeal to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Kane refused, saying it would "cause the harm" to Wollersheim he was trying to avoid.

"We will seek relief from the 10th Circuit, I'll tell you that," Cooley said as he left the courtroom. "It's totally wrong. It's not a reflection of the law. In fact, it overlooks controlling law."

Cooley also said Wollersheim had never collected money from any of his lawsuits against the church.

NO MORE COPIES

Kane's order also barred Wollershiem from making more copies of the supposedly secret Scientology materials. Wollersheim had argued that if the computer gear and other items weren't returned, the FACT Net service would cease to exist.

The church had asked Kane to bar the return of the seized items pending outcome of a trial.

Kane prefaced his decision by noting that the preliminary injunction requested by the church is "an extraordinary remedy which by its emergency nature does not afford the court the opportunity for... the deliberative process of a full-fledged trial."

JUDGE CAUTIONS

That's one reason that the decision of whether or not to issue an injunction requires "the utmost caution and prudence," Kane continued.

Issuing an injunction is "a power best used sparingly," similar to the contempt citation.

A preliminary injunction is intended to "preserve the status quo ante," or last existing state, he said.

"The public interest is served best by the free exchange of ideas," Kane said. "To issue the injunction sought will not serve the public interest. The plaintiffs have not shown a likelihood of success. The plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction is denied."

Kane ordered the Scientologists to "return and restore" to the defendants "all seized materials." He ordered the defendants to maintain "the status quo" on all copyrighted materials in their possession, restricting them to "fair use and only fair use."

1995, 15.9.

Judge Kane denies RTC their injunction against FACTnet. Judge Kane said: The alleged copying by the defendants was not of a commercial nature. Rather, it was made for non-profit purposes to advance understanding of issues concerning the church, which are the subject of on-going controversy. The postings may well be considered as having been made for the purposes of criticism, comment, or research falling within the fair use doctrine, under section 107 of the Copyright Act. 

He also rules that the OT materials do not qualify as trade secrets because evidence indicates they are in the public domain. Judge Kane concluded that the Fishman materials posted by Lerma were not trade secrets because they were widely known outside of the church through multiple sources. The same day, Judge Brinkema in Virginia ruled the same as Judge Kane in Colorado and vacated the writ of seizure she had given to RTC to seize all of Lerma’s Scientology materials. The judge ordered RTC to return all of the seized materials to Lerma. Judge Brinkema also concluded that the Fishman materials were not trade secrets.  (Criminal Track)

1995, 16.9.

Washington Post, Sept 16th - Reined In Church May Have To Return Computer Files - by Charles W Hall, Washington Post Staff Writer

Arnaldo Lerma, the Arlington man who took on the Church of Scientology by putting its texts on the Internet, won a partial victory yesterday when a federal judge in Alexandria ordered that the church return 58 computer disks that it seized from him.

US District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema also verbally slapped Scientology lawyers, saying their handling of Lerma's files went far beyond what she had authorized as part of a suit alleging copyright and trade secrecy violations.

"This case is somewhat out of control, and I need to get it under control," said Brinkema. "It was not the courts intention to give wholesale license to go through Mr Lerma's possessions willy-nilly."

But within hours, a judge for the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Apeals granted the church a temporary stay, preventing Lerma from receiving the disks until Brinkema's written opinion can be reviewed.

Brinkema's ruling was the latest twist in a case that has pitted numerous conflicting rights--copyright protection, freedom of speech and religious expression--in an age of the Internet, when documents can be distributed worldwide with the touch of a button.

Brinkema authorized the unusual Aug 12 search of Lerma's home conducted by the U.S. Marshals service, after church lawyers said they needed to block further spread of the texts, which they described as sacred materials to be seen only by advanced church members.

Brinkema said yesterday that she had meant for the search to be "narrow," saying the church was allowed to examine only files with any of three key words, including "Scientology" and "Hubbard" for L Ron Hubbard, the late science fiction author who founded the church.

Yesterday, Lerma's lawyers charged that Scientology searched computer files without regard to whther they were covered by Brinkem'a order.

"This is a dirty dearch, your honor," said Lerma's lawyer, Michael D. Sullivan. "They went through e-mail after e-mail. This is an egregious violation of my client's Fourth Amendment rights. [Scientology] must be banned from using the material they seized in this case."

Earle Cooley, a lawyer for the church, defended the search. "There was no effort to intrude beyond the materials we were concerned about." said Cooley, "But it's impossible to sterilize a search and then be certain you've gotten everything."

The church, which has a long history of suing critics or news publications that print negative stories is suing the Washington Post to prevent the use of copyrighted materials in stories about Scientology.

The Post obtained church texts from a federal court file in Los Angeles and printed excerpts in a story about the Lerma case.

Brinkema said yesterday that The Post's excerpts appeared to be protected by the "fair use" doctrine, which allows some quotation of copyrighted materials to discuss public issues. But she said it was less clear that the doctrine would protect Lerma, who put much longer passages onto the Internet.

Brinkema's ruling was the second defeat in court this week for Scientology. On Tuesday, a federal judge in Denver ordered the church to return computers and files seized from two Scientology critics in Boulder, Colo.

Lerma said yesterday that he had no idea his transmission of the church text would cause such a legal blowup, and expressed cautious optimism.

"Its progress. You want me to say I'm happy? said Lerma. "I can't jump up and down, because we're dealing with mad dogs."

1995, 19.9.

UPn, 19.9.1995 - Scientology church asks document seizure

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- The Church of Scientology asked the Supreme Court Tuesday to enforce a federal judge's oado authorizing the seizure of church materials published on a computer network.

The judge's order was vacated by the senior judge of the U.S. District of Colorado.

According to papers filed with the Supreme Court, the case began when a director of F.A.C.T.Net Inc. posted 64 pages of the church's "confidential material" on the Internet in early August.

The church sued the director and obtained an order seizing the material on Aug. 12.

Two former Scientologists then posted a message on the Internet saying that the seized documents were F.A.C.T.Net materials and "advocated that others should also post (the church's) unpublished copyrighted trade secrets on the Internet 100-1,000 times more," according to the church's application to the high court.

The senior judge vacated, or threw out, the first judge's seizure order earlier this month, releasing the materials back to F.A.C.T.Net.

"This case involves religious scriptures of the Scientology religion, written by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of that religion," the church said. "The scriptures principally in question here are unpublished, copyrighted and highly confidential."

The church said the scriptures are made available, "under highly secure conditions, to those parishioners who have reached a substantial level of spiritual awareness within the Scientology religion."

The church and its Religious Technology Center "derive substantial economic value from the materials...because Scientology parishioners make payments to the churches in exchange for the services," the application to the Supreme Court said.

"The confidentiality of these materials is so critical that the most dedicated of Scientologists formed a religious, fraternal order -- the Sea Organization, whose members demonstrate their eternal service to the religion by signing a billion-year covenant -- to secure the confidentiality of these documents," the church said.

1995, 20.9.

UPn 20.09.1995 23:58 - Breyer turns down Scientology request- WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 (UPI) --

Justice Stephen Breyer refused without comment Wednesday to enforce a federal judge's order authorizing the seizure of Church of Scientology materials published on a computer network.

The church had sought the materials, claiming they were confidential. A federal judge in Colorado had authorized the seizure, but that order was vacated, or thrown out, by a senior judge.

According to papers filed Tuesday with the Supreme Court, a director of F.A.C.T.Net Inc. posted 64 pages of the church's "confidential material" on the Internet in early August.

The church sued the director and obtained an order seizing the material on Aug. 12.

Two former Scientologists then posted a message on the Internet saying the seized documents were F.A.C.T.Net materials and "advocated that others should also post (the church's) unpublished copyrighted trade secrets on the Internet 100-1,000 times more," said the church's application to the high court.

The senior judge vacated the seizure order earlier this month, releasing the materials back to F.A.C.T.Net.

"This case involves religious scriptures of the Scientology religion, written by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of that religion," the church said. "The scriptures principally in question here are unpublished, copyrighted and highly confidential." (Application No. A-274, Religion Technology Center vs. F.A.C.T.Net Inc. et al)

1995, 22.9.

In US District Court in San Jose, California, Judge Ronald Whyte denies RTC an injunction against Dennis Erlich and Netcom for misappropriation of trade secrets, concluding that they were already "generally available to the public." He also vacated his writ of seizure and ordered RTC to return all of Erlich’s possessions to him. The judge did grant the church a preliminary injunction against Erlich, because he thought it was likely to prevail in its suit against him for copyright infringement.  (Criminal Track)

1995, October

In 1995 the Free Zone Association in Germany purchased the exclusive rights to the 1934 publication of Dr. Anastasius Nordenholz, "Scientology, Science of the Constitution and Usefulness of Knowledge" (original German title: "Scientologie, Wissenschaft von der Beschaffenheit und der Tauglichkeit des Wissens"). In November 1995 this book was republished in german and english. The interesting part is not only the title but also its basic philosophy. It is comparable to LRH's "Factors". To summarize it in one sentence: The "beingness-by-itself" (static) creates "consciousness" and "consciousness" creates "the world" (material universe). Nordenholz also uses Axioms as basis for his theories. (see: http://www.scientologie.de)

1995 17.10.: Parallel to that the Free Zone web site was set up, first at http://www.freezone.org in the US and later, after some legal pressure increased involving the provider in the US, an additional site was established at http://www.freezone.de. 

1995, November 

Lisa McPherson is a Scientologist in Clearwater, Florida. She tells her parents that she is leaving Scientology and will be home for Christmas. She has a car accident in Clearwater and runs down the street naked. She is hospitalized.  (Criminal Track)

1995, 18.11.

Scientology staff members take her from the hospital and keep her at the Fort Harrison. Seventeen days later she dies. The coroner found her covered with cockroach bites and that she had been deprived of water for the last 5 to 10 days and had died of a blood clot brought about by severe dehydration.  (Criminal Track)

1995, 2.12.

The domain: http://www.scientologie.org gets online. In June 1996 the lawyers of the Curch of Scientology first contacted the Free Zone Assoc. provider "lightlink.com" in order to get this site removed. Short after that InterNIC was approached by the Church Lawyers with the result that "scientologie.org" was put on "hold". The only alternative to keep this site online would have been to fight it out legally in the US and this the Free Zone Association didn't want to do. It would have consumed too much time and money. Consequently the domain http://www.scientologie.de is set up in Germany. Two more legal approaches were made by the Scientology lawyers in Germany to get this domain off the net... however, not successful.

1995, 5.12.

Lisa McPherson, after being held 18 days in the Ft. Harrison Hotel, dies December 5 of severe dehydration. (Brief overview of Scientology's interaction with Clearwater Florida)