Message-ID: <203318Z15021995@anon.penet.fi>
Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!news.kei.com!travelers.mail.cornell.edu!news.tc.cornell.edu!news.cac.psu.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!Germany.EU.net!EU.net!news.eunet.fi!anon.penet.fi
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
From: an193903@anon.penet.fi
X-Anonymously-To: alt.religion.scientology
Organization: Anonymous contact service
Reply-To: an193903@anon.penet.fi
Date: Wed, 15 Feb 1995 20:26:46 UTC
Subject: La times raid 1
Lines: 110
Los Angeles Times
February 14, 1995, Tuesday, Home Edition
Scientologists Sue, Seize Critic's Computer Files
BYLINE: ALAN ABRAHAMSON and NICHOLAS RICCARDI; TIMES STAFF WRITERS
SECTION: METRO; PAGE: B-3
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 about the Los Angeles-based
church that they believed he transmitted, or intended to transmit, on
the Internet.
Erlich said the Scientologists confiscated more than 360 computer
disks and 29 books, and served him with court papers disclosing that the
church is suing him for copyright infringement, along with a North
Hollywood businessman who runs an Internet bulletin board and a San
Jose-based firm that provides access to the global computer network.
"They're taking the hard copies, they're taking everything!" Erlich
said over the telephone as his house was searched for material
containing church policies and spiritual doctrines released only to
initiates.
"What can I do? These guys have guns."
Thomas Small, the lawyer who led the search, confirmed that the
searchers took material but said that their actions were lawful. In the
complex and arcane field of copyright law, he said, a search and seizure
like the one Monday does not need to be performed by police--as is the
case, for instance, in a criminal investigation.
Small said such a search is "not all that different from the kind of
anti-counterfeiting going on in the toy field . . . where T-shirts and
things are being impounded regularly."
Small said the searchers took boxes of material but he was unsure
how much until it is catalogued.
The dispute that led to Monday's search has been brewing for months
on the Internet. While Scientology lawyers contend that it revolves
around copyright law, Erlich says it is an issue of freedom of religion.
Erlich admits that he has been transmitting, or "posting," church
materials to the Internet's "alt.religion.scientology" news group, where
they could potentially be copied by millions of users worldwide. The
material got onto the Internet via bulletin board system operated by
North Hollywood businessman Tom Klemestrud, 44, and then through
computer facilities run by San Jose-based Netcom On-Line Communication
Services.
Erlich, a Scientologist from 1968 to 1982 who was trained as a
church minister, said he does not believe that the material he posted is
copyrighted. "In fact, word for word, it is not," he said.
" . . . I was trained as a minister on this material which they are
calling sacred scripture," he said. "I am a minister licensed to
practice my ministry and that is material I was given to minister with.
"They excommunicated me and now I'm making use of that same material
by preaching or writing or publicizing my religious obligation onto the
Internet."
Claiming instead that the postings were copyright violations, the
church's publishing company, Bridge Publications Inc., joined by
Religious Technology Center, holder of the "Dianetics" and "Scientology"
trademarks, sued last Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Jose.
Named as defendants were Erlich, Klemestrud and Netcom. The suit
seeks a restraining order as well as monetary damages of $120,000 per
infringement.
Last Friday, Judge Ronald M. Whyte issued an order directing the
seizure of computer disks and other materials from Erlich's home.
The search began at 7:30 a.m. Monday. A Glendale Police Department
officer was present at the beginning of the search and another at the
end, but not in between, both Small and Erlich said.
"Our presence there was to keep the peace and pursuant to the court
order we assisted in the execution of that order," said Police
Department spokesman Chahe Keuroghelian.
Two off-duty police officers and a private investigator, "retained
for this purpose," were present at all times, Small said. Erlich said
the police identified themselves as off-duty Inglewood officers.
The search lasted until about 2:30 p.m., Erlich said.
DESCRIPTORS:
SUITS; SEARCH AND SEIZURE; INTERNET (COMPUTER NETWORK); COPYRIGHT;
CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY; COMMUNICATIONS
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Message-ID: <203331Z15021995@anon.penet.fi>
Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!news.kei.com!travelers.mail.cornell.edu!news.tc.cornell.edu!news.cac.psu.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!EU.net!news.eunet.fi!anon.penet.fi
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
From: an193903@anon.penet.fi
X-Anonymously-To: alt.religion.scientology
Organization: Anonymous contact service
Reply-To: an193903@anon.penet.fi
Date: Wed, 15 Feb 1995 20:26:51 UTC
Subject: La times raid 2
Lines: 145
Los Angeles Times
February 14, 1995, Tuesday, Valley Edition
Scientologists Seize Disks for Lawsuit; Glendale: Church representatives
with court order remove files allegedly containing copyrighted texts
from home of outspoken critic.
BYLINE: ALAN ABRAHAMSON and NICHOLAS RICCARDI; TIMES STAFF WRITERS
SECTION: METRO; PAGE: B-1
TYPE: Full Run
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.
Erlich said the Scientologists confiscated more than 360 computer
disks and 29 books, and served him with court papers disclosing that the
church is suing him for copyright infringement. The papers disclosed
that the church is also suing a North Hollywood businessman who runs an
Internet bulletin board and a San Jose-based firm that provides access
to the global computer network.
"They're taking the hard copies, they're taking everything!" Erlich
cried over the telephone as his house was searched for material
containing church policies and spiritual doctrines released only to
initiates.
"What can I do? These guys have guns."
Erlich added later in the day that he believed the search was
unlawful because it was not conducted by uniformed police or by federal
marshals.
Thomas Small, the lawyer who led the search, confirmed the searchers
took material but countered that their actions were lawful. In the
complex and arcane field of copyright law, he said, a search and seizure
like the one Monday does not need to be performed by police--as is the
case, for instance, in a criminal investigation.
Nor, Small said, is such a search uncommon.
"There's a lot of emotion in a case like this," Small said. But
"it's not all that different from the kind of anti-counterfeiting going
on in the toy field--the (Mighty Morphin) Power Rangers, for instance,
where T-shirts and things are being impounded regularly."
Small said the searchers took boxes of material but he was unsure
how much until it is catalogued.
The dispute that led to Monday's search has been brewing for months
on the Internet--and while Scientologist lawyers contend it revolves
around copyright law, Erlich says it's an issue of freedom of religion.
Erlich admits that he has been transmitting, or "posting," church
materials on the Internet's "alt.religion.scientology" newsgroup, where
they could potentially be copied by millions of users worldwide.
The material got onto the Net via a BBS--or bulletin board
system--operated by North Hollywood businessman Tom Klemestrud, 44, and
then through computer facilities run by San Jose-based Netcom On-Line
Communication Services, Inc.
Erlich, a Scientologist from 1968 to 1982 who was trained as a
church minister, said he does not believe that the material he posted is
copyrighted. " . . . In fact, word for word, it is not," he said.
"If I am wrong about that, and it's possible I am, I was trained as
a minister on this material which they are calling sacred Scripture," he
said. "I am a minister licensed to practice my ministry and that is
material I was given to minister with.
"They excommunicated me and now I'm making use of that same material
by preaching or writing or publicizing my religious obligation onto the
Internet. That's my pulpit."
Claiming instead that the postings were copyright violations, the
church's publishing company, Bridge Publications Inc., joined by
Religious Technology Center, holder of the "Dianetics" and "Scientology"
trademarks, sued last Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Jose.
Named as defendants were Erlich, Klemestrud and Netcom. The suit
seeks a restraining order as well as monetary damages of $120,000 per
infringement.
Last Friday, Judge Ronald M. Whyte issued an order directing the
seizure of computer disks and other materials from Erlich's home.
The search began at 7:30 a.m. Monday. A uniformed Glendale Police
Department officer was present at the beginning of the search and
another was present at the end, but not in between, both Small and
Erlich said.
"Our presence there was to keep the peace and pursuant to the court
order we assisted in the execution of that order," said Police
Department spokesman Chahe Keuroghelian.
Two off-duty police officers and a private investigator, "retained
for this purpose," were present at all times, Small said. Erlich said
the police identified themselves as off-duty Inglewood officers.
The search lasted until about 2:30 p.m., Erlich said.
He said he isn't worried that the information he sought to make
public will be suppressed. After repeated postings on the Internet, "the
genie's definitely out of the bottle on this," he said.
But he said the search was distressing. "I feel now like I'm a
stranger in my own house," he said.
GRAPHIC:
PHOTO: COLOR, Warren McShane of the Religious Technology Center, which
holds the "Dianetics" and "Scientology" trademarks, searches through
Dennis Erlich's computer disks for copyrighted religious texts.
PHOTO: COLOR, McShane carries boxes of confiscated materials as a police
officer, center, talks with Erlich.
PHOTO: Affiliates and consultants of Religious Technology Center, which
has sued Dennis Erlich, look through Erlich's computer files.
PHOTOGRAPHER: CLARENCE WILLIAMS / Los Angeles Times
DESCRIPTORS:
INTERNET (COMPUTER NETWORK); CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY; SEARCH AND SEIZURE;
COPYRIGHT; SUITS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
To find out more about the anon service, send mail to help@anon.penet.fi.
Due to the double-blind, any mail replies to this message will be anonymized,
and an anonymous id will be allocated automatically. You have been warned.
Please report any problems, inappropriate use etc. to admin@anon.penet.fi.
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