Alt.religion.scientology Week in Review Volume 1, Issue 26 10/20/96 by Rod Keller [rkeller@voicenet.com] copyright 1996
Alt.religion.scientology
Week in Review Volume 1, Issue 26
10/20/96
by Rod Keller [rkeller@voicenet.com]
copyright 1996
Alt.religion.scientology Week in Review summarizes the most significant
postings from the Usenet group Alt.religion.scientology for the preceding
week for the benefit of those who can't follow the group as closely as
they'd like. Out of thousands of postings, I attempt to include news of
significant events, new affidavits, court rulings, new contributors,
whatever. I hope you find it useful. Like many readers of a.r.s, I have a
kill file. So please take into consideration that I may not have seen some
of the most significant postings.
The articles in A.r.s Week in Review are brief summaries of the articles.
Many include an excerpt, and all include message IDs for the articles I
cover. This may or may not be useful to you, depending on how long your
site stores articles in the newsgroup before expiring them.
Free A.r.s Week in Review subscriptions are available, just email me at
rkeller@voicenet.com
It is archived at:
http://wpxx02.toxi.uni-wuerzburg.de/~krasel/CoS/ars-summary.html
http://user1.i1.net/~mallen/scn/arswr/ars-summary.html
http://www.amazing.com/scientology/ars-summary.html
http://users.aimnet.com/~jdiver/scieno.htm
http://www.thur.de/religio/publik/arsfaq.html
#####
Arnie Lerma
Judge Brinkema unsealed her decision in Scientology's suit against Arnie
Lerma this week. The cult had claimed the decision contained trade
secrets.
"Plaintiff's Ex Parte Motion to Strike or Sea Specified Portions of the Court's Opinion, asks the Court to redact three sentences from the Memorandum Opinion issued October 4, 1996. Plaintiff argues that the three sentences are irrelevant to the Court's conclusions, improperly reveal 'trade secrets' and mischaracterize the tenets of Scientology beliefs. Because the Court was unavailable to review this motion on October 8. 1996, another judge, who was covering her cases, entered an ex parte Order sealing the Opinion and directing the parties not to disseminate the Opinion until further order. That Order has had the effect of prohibiting the pro se defendant Lerma from showing the Opinion to prospective counsel.
"Because the Court does not find that the three sentences at issue reveal any trade secrets and because the Court does not intend to rewrite its opinions merely because portions do not satisfy one side, RTC's Motion is DENIED and it is hereby
"ORDERED that the Order of October 8, 1996, be and is VACATED, and it is further ORDERED that the Memorandum Opinion of October 4, 1996 be and is UNSEALED."
The Associated Press reports that Scientology President Heber Jentzsch considers the decision a "victory".
"'This is a total victory,' the Rev. Heber C. Jentzsch, president of Church of Scientology International, said today. He noted that the church had only asked for the minimum $500 for each of five alleged copyright infringements and was more interested in establishing that its materials were protected by copyright -- even from publication on the Internet -- than in achieving a big monetary award."
But Scientology is apparently not satisfied with the $2,500 award, and seeks half a million in legal fees. From their filing with the court:
"RTC is willing to accept the minimal statutory damages suggested by the Court. However, the Court's hesitation to make a meaningful attorney's fee award -- because defendant 'is apparently suffering financial hardship and is no longer represented by counsel' -- is unwarranted. In fact, defendants in copyright lawsuits are to be treated alike and that elements of bad faith or culpability are not to be decisive in making such awards.
"Lerma's Motives
"There was no genuine issue of fact with respect to Lerma's infringing activities' Lerma never contested RTC's copyright entitlements. Oct. 4. His after-the-fact attempts to justify his actions as those of a 'reporter,' engaging in 'fair-use' criticism were flatly rejected, both by Lerma's unequivocal admission that he was not a reporter and by the Court's recognition of his extensive verbatim copying, unadorned by any even arguable fair use criticism or commentary.
"Lerma's true motives were far from those that he presented to the Court. Despite Lerma's self-proclaimed role as a journalist and scholar, Lerma had little hesitation in making known his true intention to participate in a group of Internet 'highwaymen' to jeopardize RTC's intellectual property rights by 'spamming' its secrets and thereby interfering with its internal, authorized use of the materials."
Scientology intends to charge for legal fees as listed in filings posted this week. From Helena Kobrin:
"I do not bill my client on an hourly basis. Instead, during this litigation, I charged a flat rate of $2,100 per week. The number of hours I worked in a week varied, and during many weeks, I worked nearly full-time on this case. The total of my fees which RTC is claiming in its fees motion is $30,650.26."
"Mr. Eric Lieberman, partner, 25 years experience: $300/hour x 118.6 hours = $35,580.00
"Mr. Laurence Helfer, associate, 3 years experience: $125/hour x 182.45 hours = $ 22,806.25
"Fees: $60,066.25
"Ms. Helena K. Kobrin, 18 years experience: 890.85 hours = $ 30,650.26
"Mr. Earle C. Cooley, associate, 39 years experience: $275/hour x 265.85 hours = $ 73,108.75
"Total Fees Claimed: $490,565.26"
Also posted, a deposition from Washington OSA Sue Taylor, describing the visit to Arnie's home prior to the raid.
"I went to see Mr. Lerma on Saturday, August 5, 1995. Another woman named Pat Jones who works with me accompanied me to Mr. Lerma's home.
"Mr. Lerma freely admitted that he had posted the materials in question to the Internet. He claimed that he did nothing wrong. Mr. Lerma attempted to justify his postings by saying that the materials were from a court file. When asked if he got them from a court file, he said he did not. He said that someone had given them to him, and they were from a court file. But when asked, he said that he did not verify where they were gotten from by the other person. He would not identify the other person.
"Mr. Lerma claimed that there was nothing on his computer and nothing on his premises that related at all to his posting of these materials. He said that the reason for having moved them elsewhere was that he was expecting a seizure by the Church after his posting. It was obvious to me that Lerma was not being truthful with us, as this statement contradicted his earlier statement that he had done nothing wrong. If it was true that he did not know he had done something illegal, he would have had no reason to secrete the materials off has premises.
"The next day, Pat Jones and I went to Mr. Lerma's house again, as we had gotten additional information and wanted to go over it with him. He was there, but this time was unwilling to meet with us and said he was planning to meet with his attorney the next morning at 9:00 a.m.
"I reminded Lerma that he had signed confidentiality agreements earlier, and his postings violated those agreements. I said that in order to settle matters, he needed to tell me who had given him the materials, and to turn over any copies of them which he had to the Church. He said he got them in an envelope, but did not say who had given them to him.
"I am certain that Lerma was not truthful with me during our conversations, as there were various contradictions between different statements he made to me, as noted above. It was impossible to tell which of the statements was true and which was false. He also treated us rudely. He refused to discuss meaningful ways to resolve the dispute. He refused to return the materials that enabled him to commit past and future infringements. He also became hostile and thereafter all efforts to resolve this matter short of litigation were rebuffed."
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#####
Clear Baby
Heidrun Beer (aka ClearBaby) received a reply to her request that the SP
declare of a.r.s poster Ralph Hilton be reviewed. The reply came from
Saarina Metoyer, D/IJC for Restorations, but did not offer any amnesty.
"'Thank you very much for your letter regarding Ralph Hilton. IJC forwarded this to me as it is my hat to help get people who are declared, returned to good standing.'
"There follow details which explain that she needs a communication by Ralph himself, and that she doesn't know how to reach him, though she would be interested to help him get everything sorted out."
Message-ID: <326420DA.49FB@atnet.at>
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Clam Watch
Tilman Hausherr continued his series of Scientologist web pages.
"Artists for a Better World http://www.citycent.com/CCC/artists/
"'Celebrity' Scientologists Billy Sheehan and John Novello are playing in a band (third is Dennis Chambers, not sure if he's a clam or just someone they want to get in). And the name of the band is Niacin http://www.primenet.com/~novello/niacin.htm
"One of their songs is 'Three feet back' http://www.primenet.com/~novello/music/3feet.au
"Matrixx Entertainment, at http://www.mecfilms.com/. The founder is James R. Jaeger II, who has 'management degree from Celebrity Center International in Hollywood'. The co-founder, Lee Garmes, was already dead at founding-time.
"Wiseman & Burke: THE WEALTH BUILDERS http://www.wiseman-burke.com/profile.htm
"The web site is created by Jaffe & Soeder, a clam company. http://www.wiseman-burke.com/profile.htm
"Kenneth J Gerbino. http://www.gerbino.com
"Normal Knox: (Poetry) http://www.lacenter.com/knox/
"Ron Clawges, another web designer. Here some samples: ASHO Task Force Party http://www.datadepot.com/ronsart/ashopart.jpg
"International Association of Web Artists http://www.datadepot.com/ronsart/iawasky.jpg
"Hey Dennis, even an hungarian clam writes about you! http://grafi.inf.elte.hu/~fpm/bun5.html"
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#####
Huge Cajones
Correspondence was posted between the operator of the Huge Cajones
anonymous remailer and Helena Kobrin, Scientology attorney.
"I represent Religious Technology Center, the owner of the confidential Advanced Technology of the religion of Scientology, and the holder of exclusive rights under the copyrights applicable to the Advanced Technology materials.
"Someone posting as 'nobody@huge.cajones.com' has sent several messages through your remailer which contain copyrighted works belonging to my clients.
"The postings were made in a code, which we have determined is called rot13 cipher. It is described in an Internet posting as 'a simple-minded scheme that replaces each letter of the alphabet with the letter that is 13 places ahead or behind it.'
"We are therefore requesting the following: Send out a cancellation of these messages. Preserve all information related to the posting which is on your system. This is imperative because it relates to litigation which is in progress, and in which preliminary injunctions have been issued prohibiting posting of these works."
The administrator replies:
"I can't do that. My service does not post directly to USENET, and as such, is not responsible for placing the article onto usenet itself. To send out a cancellation, I would have to forge one, which would violate the Terms of Service of my upstream provider, which could get me removed from the net. You need to talk to the person who runs the mail to news gateway that posted this.
"Now, if I were keeping logs, it wouldn't be a very anonymous remailer, now would it? As soon as a message has left my system, I no longer have any details about it. I can't identify the sender, the recipient, or even the text of the message. Sorry.
An interesting set of headers were forwarded from Kobrin, including the accounts of two of Scientology's news monitors, ersmith@earthlink.com and SRSC@aol.com. But who are the mysterious RHEA or DONNA?
"Received: from emout03.mail.aol.com (emout03.mx.aol.com [198.81.11.94]) by bulgaria .it.earthlink.net (8.7.5/8.7.3) with SMTP id SAA00306 for <ersmith@earthlink.net>
; Sat, 12 Oct 1996 18:08:43 -0700 (PDT) From: SRCS@aol.com Received: by emout03.mail.aol.com (8.6.12/8.6.12) id VAA07188 for ersmith@earthlink .net; Sat, 12 Oct 1996 21:08:16 -0400 Date: Sat, 12 Oct 1996 21:08:16 -0400 Message-ID: <961012210812_125248984@emout03.mail.aol.com>
To: ersmith@earthlink.net Subject: URGENT- Message ID's X-UIDL: c7f29d39d9b1091a2680c157e632561b X-Mozilla-Status: 0001
"Saturday, October 12, 1996 5:53 PM PDT
"RHEA or DONNA RUSH"
Message-ID: <542h7l$k5o@mtinsc01-mgt.ops.worldnet.att.net>
#####
Delphi
Details from a recent issue of Delphi Journal, a publication of the
Scientology-run Delphi Academy, of a business seminar given for students.
"Jerry Ellenburg, CEO of Ellenburg Capital of Portland, Oregon and a large contributor to the IAS 'War Chest' organized yet another business seminar for Delphi students.
"This one included tours of Executive Softward, Earthlink, Disney Studios, Castle Rock Entertainment, Gerbino & Ass., and Mueller/Shields Marketing, as well as meetings with top corporate executives including Delphi alumni.
"Sky Dayton, Delphi class of '88 and founder-owner of Earthlink a major Internet service provider, briefed students on the secrets of his success. Starting with venture capital, Sky's company rocketed from 10 to more than 250 employees in just over a year.
"At Executive Softward, president and founder Craig Jenson, [and IAS 'War Chest' contributor of over $250,000.00] also spoke with students. Derrick De Vett, also a Delphi alumnus, and now executive assistant to Mr. Jensen, spoke about how his job 'brings him into daily interaction with congressmen, senators, and high- level business executives.'"
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Denmark
An article was summarized by Rolf Elak from the October 16th Kieler
Nachrichten.
"Scientology keeps 25 children from going to school, which is required by German law. The children live without their parents in the Danish village of Brenderup. Approximately 50 children are said to live in the 'boarding school'. This school fulfills neither the German nor the Danish requirements for a school. The Danish authorities have been informed, so that the children, even against resistance from their parents, can be reintroduced into their school-life.
"The society responsible for the schools of the German minority in Denmark has announced to exclude $cientologists. They fear an attempt to takeover the society if and when the Danish government shuts down the facility in Brenderup."
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Germany
Tilman Hausherr summarized some news articles from Germany in postings
this week.
"Members of scientology organisations are not allowed to harass passers-by or to distribute pamphlets without a permission, according to a ruling of the administrative court in Mannheim. (Aktenzeichen 5 S 472/96). Reason: this is a commercial activity. Because they are not telling for whom they are working for, they cannot hide under the Cory Brennan's 'freedom of religion' skirt."
"Andreas Schlenz got an intermediate win today. The court declined to remove him from the post of chairman of the workers council, and wants to decide it in the main trial on Dec 18th. MP Renate Rennebach supported him again: in a letter to his union she praised him for being courageous enough to criticize his employer, the Forum Hotel.
"On a press conference Schlenz stated that he would likely be fired if he was removed from his chairman post, which would mean, according to him, that he would never again find a job in Berlin. He said that he is irritated because he plays a central role in the coming negotiations about pay in the hotel business. Because these negotiations are currently going nowhere, a strike is possible."
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New York Times
Scientology purchased an ad in Thursdays's New York Times, comparing the
current situation in Germany with Nazi Germany and the holocaust. German
and U.S. officials and Jewish leaders all condemned the ad. From Reuters:
"The advertisement, headlined 'Practicing Religious Intolerance' and 'Germany Then and Now' above the eagle and swastika insignia of Hitler's Third Reich, described Germany as the only country in the world that systematically discriminates against Scientologists. In recent months, German officials have said Scientology should be banned or at least placed under covert surveillance. Scientology is not considered a religion in Germany and the government says it exploits the gullible for profit.
"'You may wonder why German officials discriminate against Scientologists,' the advertisement said. 'There is no legitimate reason but then there was none that justified the persecution of the Jewish people either.'
From the Associated Press:
"Germany's top Jewish leader said he was insulted Thursday by a Church of
Scientology ad in The New York Times that compared Germany's treatment of
Scientologists today to Nazi persecution of the Jews.
"Ignatz Bubis, chairman of the nation's Central Council of Jews and a prominent member of the centrist Free Democratic Party, said he denounced the comparison 'because it is false.'
"The Rev. Heber Jentzsch, president of the church, defended the ad, which he said would run in other newspapers in coming weeks. Referring to the treatment of Scientology members in Germany, Jentzsch said: 'We're not saying it's a Holocaust. But the elements are there.'"
Also from Reuters:
"The U.S. State Department on Thursday blasted the Church of Scientology over what it called an 'outrageous charge' in a New York Times advertisement that the German government pursued Nazi-type practices.
"State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said the department had spoken out in the past against Bonn's treatment of Scientologists, including in its annual human rights report. 'But something happened today that we as an ally of Germany have to be disturbed about,' he told reporters. 'The Scientologists ... took out an advertisement ... which accused the German government of Nazism and accused them of Nazi-type practices.'
"'This is an outrageous charge against the German government by an American group. It bears no resemblance to the facts of what's going on there. The language used is needlessly provocative and not constructive, given the history of Germany,' Burns said. 'We do not wish to see a friend of the United States treated this way.'"
"Germany accused the Church of Scientology Friday of insulting millions of Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust by accusing the government of using Nazi-style tactics against its followers, as Hitler persecuted the Jews. A Foreign Ministry spokesman described the charges as 'totally absurd.'
"'We believe Scientology's accusations are totally absurd,' spokesman Martin Erdmann told Reuters. 'By comparing its treatment in Germany with Nazi crimes against the Jews, Scientology is falsifying history. What is worse, it's also insulting the feelings of the victims of the Nazi regime and their relatives.'
"But he said Germany would not dignify an anti-German Scientology campaign, which kicked off with a scathing full-page advertisement in the New York Times Thursday, by launching a formal complaint against it."
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Norway
Gisle Hannemyr translated an article from the October 19th Aftenposten, a
major daily newspaper.
"The Church of Scientology has for the first time lost a major lawsuit in a higher court in Norway. The Church must pay NOK 600 000 [approx. US$ 93 000] in damages to a former member.
"The plaintiff broke with the movement after being a member for five years. He had taken up loans totaling NOK 300 000 [US$ 47 000] to pay for various courses.
"The Church of Scientology has previously entered into generous out of court settlements with dissatisfied former members. This time they wanted to try their case in a court of law, with a very expensive result for the movement. In addition to the NOK 600 000 in damages, they also have to pay NOK 249 000 [US$ 39 000] in court costs.
"'The most important thing here is that the Court of Appeals has upheld the ruling of the City Court that the Scientologists is using undue pressure, bordering on the use of force', states Kurt Vigeland, who represented the former member in court."
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Robin Scott
PA News reported that Robin Scott, well known for raiding the Danish org
for NOTS packs, is on trial for growing Marijuana.
"An Oxford educated ex-hippy found growing 845 cannabis plants at his farmhouse home told a court today he believed the drug was the best cure for alcoholism. When police went to Robin Scott's home at Crylla, near Liskeard, Cornwall, they found details of all the plants detailed in a book headed 'Captain's Log, Stardate January 1995, Planet Earth,' Truro Crown Court has heard.
"Scott, 47, and his wife Adrienne, 47, have denied two joint charges of being concerned in the production of cannabis in 1995. He has also denied a further cannabis production charge, and two others of supplying the drug, and possessing the drug with intent to supply.
"He said he first used cannabis in San Francisco as an 'aristocratic hippy' in the late 1960's, and said: 'One of my motives for being involved in cannabis research is that I genuinely and sincerely believe cannabis offered the best cure for alcoholism.'
"He said he joined the Church of Scientology in 1973, was ordained a Minister in 1973, but left in 1981, later becoming involved with a group of independent scientologists."
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