Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology From: av282@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Martin G. V. Hunt) Subject: Harrassment from the Cult Message-ID: Organization: The National Capital FreeNet Date: Thu, 6 Apr 1995 00:26:35 GMT A policeman knocked on my door today; he was very polite, and had some computer printouts of some posts from ars in his hands. He told me he got the posts from a woman in Vancouver. I showed him some books on Scientology, and told him about the criminal nature of Scientology, which he seemed mildly interested in. He tiold me that the woman in Vancouver from Scientology claimed the printouts were written by me; I corrected him on that, and discussed with the sergeant how easy it is to forge posts on the Internet, and how I had had trouble in the past with forged posts to ars, and forged mail from some hacker who broke into my account. The cult seems to want to silence me; should I give in and quit posting to ars? Or should I continue to voice my opinion about the criminal nature of Scientology? In any case, they seemed determined to frame me; the cult has no proof that I wrote these posts, in fact they may have written them themselves in an effort to discredit me. Yet, even though they have no proof whatsoever of any wrongdoing on my part, they have seen fit to make an effort to have the local police investigate me in my own house. I will say further that the posts the sergeant showed me do not contain any copyright material; I may assume that the cult has given up trying to claim that I posted their copyrighted material, and instead has focused on silencing me through threats and harrassment. I wonder how many people, when confronted with this kind of action, simpkly buckle-in? How many say to themselves why should I keep fighting the cult? Why should I be the one to take the fall? Why should I stick my neck out? When I look at my son, I have the answer. All I can say is I need some legal advice, and I could use some support; if the EFF is listening, can you tell me what I should do? What are my rights? Do I have a case against the cult for lying to the police about me, and claiming that I made certain questionable posts to the INternet? Is this sort of thing actionable? Should I wait for the inevitable backpeddaling, or should I launch a counter-strike? Make no mistake; first, they want to stop the illegal posting of their copyrighted materials. Then they want to sue people for speaking their minds about the cult. Then they want to close this newsgroup down, and silence all their critics. Look for slander and libel cases next; these copyright things are just the warm-up. ttyl, -- "These poor bozos think they're clams, not human beings, so what do you expect them to do except hide in the mud, spurt at random, and end up in the chowder?" - Stella. Cogito, ergo sum. Martin Hunt, av282@freenet.carleton.ca -------------- Subject: Illegal use of information Message-ID: Sender: av282@freenet3.carleton.ca (Martin G. V. Hunt) Reply-To: av282@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Martin G. V. Hunt) Organization: The National Capital FreeNet Date: Sat, 15 Apr 1995 02:16:44 GMT Lines: 15 When the cult sent data to the Victoria police, including my (unlisted) phone number, they broke the law. It seems that my phone number was obtained from the material seized from Dennis Erilich's house over the (supposed) copyright infringement (suit.) This was misappropriation of seized data. ttyl, -- "These poor bozos think they're clams, not human beings, so what do you expect them to do except hide in the mud, spurt at random, and end up in the chowder?" - Stella. Cogito, ergo sum. Martin Hunt, av282@freenet.carleton.ca