Beginning of Petition Statement TO: The Church of Scientology, The Religious Technology Ce
**************** Beginning of Petition Statement ********************
TO: The Church of Scientology, The Religious Technology Center, Bridge
Publications, Inc., Office of Special Affairs, and all other
affiliated organizations, divisions and corporations of the Church
of Scientology
We, the undersigned, are disturbed by your recent legal attempts to
stifle the free flow of information on the Internet and Usenet.
Specifically, you have 1) threatened legal action against several
automated anonymous remailers unless they filter out *all* e-mail
targeted to the legitimate Usenet newsgroups alt.religion.scientology
(a.r.s.), and alt.clearing.technology (a.c.t.), open forums where all
points of view about Scientology, both pro and con, are welcome, and
2) demanded and actually attempted the removal of a.r.s. in gross
defiance of accepted Usenet practice and netiquette.
Concerning 1), since nearly all (if not all) of the e-mail sent to
a.r.s. and a.c.t. via the remailers is legitimate and originates from
individuals who sincerely believe they need to post anonymously because
of the nature of discussion, your demand, if implemented, would prevent
these individuals from freely expressing their views in the proper
forum. Freedom of expression is internationally recognized as one of
the most important and sacred of basic human rights, and your demands
fly in the face of this recognition. Your second demand, removing
a.r.s., would go even further in inhibiting freedom of expression on
all electronic networks. It is a *very* serious matter to attempt to
remove forums of free expression.
Your primary argument for issuing these legal threats, according to
your statements, are that some people (the "perpetrators") have
knowingly posted *alleged* (meaning not yet demonstrated in a court of
law) Church of Scientology copyrighted and trade secret material to
a.r.s. and a.c.t., sometimes using the anonymous remailers as the
carrier (because of the common carrier-like nature of anonymous
remailers, the administrators of the remailers have no knowledge of such
activity taking place). Though we do not condone making copyrighted
material available on any electronic network without the permission of
the copyright holder, your specific legal threats are short-sighted,
perceived to be mean-spirited, ineffective, and are on tenuous legal
grounds because
1) It won't stop those who are determined to make available alleged
copyrighted materials on electronic networks. They will find other
avenues on the electronic networks to do so. Only prosecuting the
actual perpetrators will deter this alleged illegal activity.
2) Your demands, if met, will have the effect of leading to significant
stifling of free speech and the exchange of information on all
electronic networks which, if not illegal in some jurisdictions, goes
against all accepted conventions of a free and open society,
3) You have not stated, nor is there any indication, that you intend to
work in a cooperative manner with legitimate law-enforcement
agencies, the courts, and/or the Internet to locate and prosecute
the perpetrators of the *alleged* copyright violations in the
countries they originated.
Thus, your threats are being construed, rightly or wrongly, by most on
the electronic networks as an attempt to stifle free discussion on
Scientology rather than trying to locate and prosecute the perpetrators
of the *alleged* copyright and trade secret violations.
With respect to the attempted removal of the newsgroup a.r.s., you also
stated that the word 'scientology' is trademarked and thus the name
a.r.s. infringes on such trademark. This is appallingly ludicrous based
on past case law of similar situations, as well as your implicit
acknowledgement of the legitimacy of a.r.s. by allowing Church of
Scientology approved information to be posted to it by your supporters,
and possibly with your knowledge and/or approval, ever since it was
created July 1991, almost 3.5 years ago.
Therefore, we, the undersigned, make the following demands.
1) Regarding your charges of copyright violation over electronic
networks: You will cease all legal action, now and in the future,
against any person, company, organization, etc., associated or
affiliated in any way with all electronic networks, including the
Internet, except that action which is necessary to locate and
prosecute the perpetrators (as previously defined) of alleged
copyright and trade secret violations, and other activity in
violation of law, and *only* in full cooperation with legitimate
law-enforcement agencies and/or the courts.
2) Regarding your trademark challenge of the Usenet newsgroup
alt.religion.scientology: You will cease all legal action, now and
in the future, to remove any Usenet newsgroup, BBS forum, mailing
list or other similar forum of public exchange of information over
any electronic network, or to inhibit in any way the flow of
information to and from these forums. This includes, for example,
ceasing all legal action demanding a) the removal of the Usenet
newsgroup alt.religion.scientology and b) that anonymous remailers
add filters as previously described.
3) You will publicly and officially state
a) That you support the existence of free and open forums on all
electronic networks to discuss Scientology from all perspectives
and points of view (which includes yours), and
b) That you do not support nor condone attempts by any entity to
electronically censor, remove, obstruct, or tamper with any
electronic communication except when allowed by a valid court
order.
If you outright reject or refuse to even discuss these demands in a good
faith manner on Usenet, we have no other option but to consider such
rejection or refusal to even discuss to be an act of hostility by the
Church of Scientology towards the users of all electronic networks and
forums, including the Internet. We are certain you do not want this,
and we do not want it either, so we offer to work with you any way we
can with regard to any legitimate demands you may have concerning
alleged copyright violation(s) and other illegal activity.
However, any attempts by you of any kind to tamper or in any manner
restrict the free flow of information (other than that *specifically*
restricted by law -- and *only* that) on any electronic network is
totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated for the reasons stated
above.
Signed,
******************* End of Petition Statement ***********************
======================================
Instructions for Signing This Petition
======================================
It must first be noted that this is a petition, not a vote. By
"signing" it you agree with *all* the demands of the petition
statement. If you do not agree with all the demands, then your only
recourse is to not sign it.
In addition, all e-mail signatures will be submitted to the Church of
Scientology as well as the newsmedia provided more than 1000 validated
signatures are obtained. Including your full name is optional, but
very highly encouraged as that would add to the effectiveness of the
petition. Signing via an anonymous remailer is discouraged, but not
forbidden, as an attempt will be made to separately tally signatures
from anonymous remailers.
Signing this petition is not hard, but to make sure your signature is
not lost or miscounted, please follow these directions exactly:
1) Prepare an e-mail message. In the main body (NOT the Subject line)
of your e-mail include the ONE-LINE statement:
SIGNED
E-Mail Fredric L. Rice / The Skeptic Tank