(Reproduced on the Net with permission.) 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.