Alt.religion.scientology
Week in Review Volume 5, Issue 41
1/28/2001
by Rod Keller [rkeller@...]
copyright 2001

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 articles
posted to the newsgroup. They include message IDs for the original
articles, and many have a URL to get more information. You may be able to
find the original article, depending on how long your site stores articles
in the newsgroup before expiring them.

Free A.r.s Week in Review subscriptions are available.
Subscriptions are also available on ONElist. Email
weekinreview-subscribe@onelist.com or see http://www.onelist.com
Week in Review is archived at:
http://www.xenu.net/archive/WIR/
http://wpxx02.toxi.uni-wuerzburg.de/~krasel/CoS/ars-summary.html
http://www.uni-bonn.de/~uzs1dc/scientology/wir.html
http://www.religio.de/publik/arsfaq.html

#####

> Lisa McPherson

Bob Minton posted an appeal in the Lisa McPherson civil case made to
prevent the disclosure of private financial details to Scientology.

"The subject orders compel the ESTATE to engage in FLAG'S fishing
expedition on irrelevant and privileged matters, require non-parties to
produce documentary and testimonial personal financial information, and
impose sanctions for the non-parties' refusal to divulge privileged and/or
irrelevant personal financial information and documents. The orders are
clearly beyond the scope of Rule 1.280, Fla.R.Civ.Proc. and are contrary
to the essential requirements of the law.

"Each and every subpoena issued by FLAG to Minton, Brooks, and the Trust
compels them to produce 'any records of financial transactions or
dealings' with each of the scores of people listed on the plaintiffs and
defendants' witness lists. This itself reveals the true motive of FLAG to
abuse discovery for ulterior, irrelevant and self-serving purposes. FLAG
is only interested in (1) discovering how much funding Robert Minton and
others have given to the Lisa McPherson Trust, its employees, or to
critics of Scientology (2) chilling the first amendment rights of Minton,
Brooks, the Trust and others to voice their objections to the documented
and well-known abuses of Scientology and (3) sending a warning message to
others who may be inclined to speak out against against the legally
documented abuses of the Church of Scientology. This behavior is commanded
by established Scientology doctrine. The founder of Scientology, L. Ron
Hubbard, said with respect to litigation against opponents of Scientology
that 'The purpose of the suit is to harass and discourage rather than to
win. The law can be used very easily to harass, and enough harassment on
somebody who is simply on the thin edge anyway, well knowing that he is
not authorized, will generally be sufficient to cause his professional
decease. If possible, of course, ruin him utterly.' Hubbard also ordained
that enemies of Scientology, also known as 'Suppressive Persons' or 'SPs'
are 'Fair Game. May be deprived of property or injured by any means by any
Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked,
sued or lied to or destroyed.' Furthermore, the subpoena requests
production of any type of communication between the deponent and a
'witness', including the Estate's counsel, personal representative,
beneficiaries, and plaintiffs trial team. This information is outside the
scope of Rule 1.280 and/or is privileged. The discovery process can be, as
the trial court noted, broad. However, a trial court should prevent
discovery which constitutes a mere fishing expedition designed to harass
witnesses and impede the course of litigation.

"The 'Church' of Scientology has a practice of harassing its critics.
Scientology leaders have been found liable for malicious prosecution and
convicted of theft of government documents. Scientology has a policy and
history of seeking retribution against its perceived enemies.
Scientology's 'tenets include lying and cheating in order to attack its
'enemies.' Minton formed the Trust as a for-profit corporation to protect
its operations and financial affairs from the 'fair game' efforts of
Scientology. In response to the Estate's Motion to Strike witnesses,
which was supported by uncontroverted affidavits affirming the witnesses'
lack of personal knowledge of the facts of the case, FLAG argued that
Minton controls the wrongful death action and the wrongful death action is
being used to attack Scientology. There is absolutely no evidence that
Minton in any way controls the instant litigation or otherwise makes
decisions for the plaintiff or plaintiff's counsel. Flag's allegations
regarding payment to and pressure on witnesses and its disingenuous
discovery requests are entirely without evidentiary support and are
intended to gather information for collateral purposes and to evade true
issues of the case as framed by the Fifth Amended Complaint, i.e., the
death of Lisa McPherson.

"The other individuals associated with the Trust (Brooks, Minton, Keller,
Ward, and Jacobsen) are listed on Defendant's Witness List only in order
to provide cover for Scientology's grab at their private information and
records. It is practically absurd and legally groundless that the trial
court ordered this production, since these persons have no knowledge of
the facts of the case or of any witness statements, and will not be
testifying as experts. The financial affairs of The Lisa McPherson Trust,
a private corporation, and of Minton and Brooks and the other proposed
deponents are of no relevance to the issues raised on the pleadings in the
wrongful death action. None is listed as a testifying expert witness, and
none has any knowledge of the facts at issue below. The financial affairs
of witnesses are relevant only to the issue of the bias of those witnesses
called by the opposing party. Therefore, the financial affairs of these
individuals are beyond the scope of the applicable rule, and are not
discoverable.

"This court should require counsel for FLAG to produce record evidence of
its need to take the depositions of these third parties. FLAG was told to
do this by Judge Moody and FLAG failed. That is why the trial court
originally severely limited the scope of discovery as to these witnesses.
In reality, FLAG's position is a misrepresentation. For example, in the
Subpoena Duces Tecum to Stacy Brooks, FLAG demands that she bring
financial information concerning herself, as well as the Lisa McPherson
Trust, non-parties to this action. If Brooks was listed as a testifying
expert witness, this request for financial information would violates the
Elkins decision, which only require an expert to disclose financial
information as a percentage of income, without disclosing any records.
Since Stacy Brooks is not a testifying expert, any financial information
concerning her or her employer, the Trust, is strictly undiscoverable.

"The trial court departed from the essential requirements of law by
ordering non parties including the Lisa McPherson Trust, Inc., Minton and
Brooks, to answer questions and produce documents that inquire into their
personal financial matters since none is a fact or expert witness. It is
absurd for the Defendants to list the Trust and these individuals as
witnesses for the defense and then seek their personal financial
information under the guise of discovery of evidence of bias. Even if they
were listed as witnesses by the Plaintiff, Elkins prohibits discovery of
the sort sought by FLAG in this instance.

"The orders granting discovery and imposing sanctions are contrary to the
essential requirements of the law. Therefore the subject orders should be
quashed."

Message-ID: <kvk47toq9tg27cn69s3pe9q90ubv6jnmb0@...>

#####

> 2000 Goals

An article from Source magazine, issue 100 was posted to a.r.s this week
which lists some of the goals of Flag for the year 2000.

"1. The new Flag building opened and Super Power released to the public,
thus bringing world clearing within reach.

"2. With the new building, there will be over 260 posted public auditors,
and an additional 90 staff staff auditors.

"3. A Hubbard University of Standard Tech, with over 10,000 students in
training on any given week, and 500 auditors being made per week.

"4. Flag-trained Class VIII Senior C/Ses, KOTs and Qual Secs in every
Class V org on the planet, with Flag-trained Senior Sec Checkers, Cramming
Officers, Supervisors and Word Clearers in every Class V org courseroom
and HGC.

"5. 100 Class XII auditors in the chair delivering Ls in every major
language of earth, including Russian, Chinese and Japanese.

"6. An ability to deliver up to Clear in the top 50 most spoken languages
in the world.

"7. A Flag Service Consultant in every major city in the world.

"8. Over 3,500 Sea Org staff at the Flag Land Base.

"9. Every executive of the Flag Land Base OEC/FEBC trained, and operating
in a model OEC/FEBC Esto Tech org.

"10. All Flag public through their prerequisites and prepared for the
release of New OT IX and X.

"11. Clearwater known as the first Scientology city in the world.

"12. An established, active and fully functioning OT committee in every
org in the world.

"13. Over 100 Clears and 150 OTs being made each week at Flag.

"14. The Dianetics Documercial translated and being shown in every
civilized country in the world, in sufficient quantity to capture 5% of
the world book market."

Message-ID: <r18h49.ib4.ln@...>

#####

> St. Petersburg

Mike Krotz reported that the body which washed up on a St. Petersburg
beach belonged to a former Scientologist.

"I have it on very good authority that this was the son of two area
Scientologists. He was kicked out of the house some years ago, as he would
not follow the teachings adhered to by his parents. They 'disconnected'
from his 'thetan infested meat body,' and refused to have anything to do
with him.

From the St. Petersburg Times on January 21st:

"The body was found about 5:20 p.m. on Redington Shores beach near 18200
Gulf Blvd. and authorities are trying to determine who it was. The body
may have been in the water more than a week. It was a white man with no
identification."

Message-ID: <3A730354.6A9F5E02@...>

#####

> CCHR

A column in the Philadelphia Daily News on January 26th predicted that
Scientology would use the theft of Ritalin from a high school nurse's
office in their battle against the drug.

"David LaSalle, 18, a junior at William Tennent High School in Warminster,
is charged with stealing Ritalin and Adderall, drugs used to treat
attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. And while the immediate focus
in the aftermath of the theft is on the legitimate controversy over the
use of Ritalin as a recreational high, what comes next is completely
predictable: The resurrection of the lies and myths about Ritalin and
ADHD.

"Never mind that the National Institutes of Health found 'evidence
supporting the validity of the disorder.' Never mind that the surgeon
general determined that the cause of ADHD is unknown 'although
neurotransmitter deficits, genetics and perinatal complications have been
implicated.' Never mind a study in the Journal of the American Medical
Association that found that, for the most part but with some exceptions,
stimulants are underprescribed rather than overprescribed.

"E. Clark Ross, chief executive of Children and Adults with Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, says public hearings on whether to ban
Ritalin in schools have been held in five states - including Pennsylvania
- and most were associated with this organized campaign. 'With each new
hearing, the same out-of-state spokespersons denying the existence of
childhood mental disorders appear and espouse the same rhetoric,' Ross
said in an article to be printed in the group's next newsletter.

"The rhetoric espouses the views of the Citizens Commission on Human
Rights, a Church of Scientology group that attacks psychiatry in general
and claims ADHD and other learning disabilities are 'inventions,
contrivances and a fraud,' according to Ross. Perhaps this group - or
others equally deluded - will use this latest crime as yet another
opportunity to discredit Ritalin and challenge the reality of ADHD."

Message-ID: <94rsb6$b0k@...>

#####

> Clearwater

The St. Petersburg Times reported on January 19th that performers at a
jazz festival will be provided rooms at the Fort Harrison hotel during
their stay.

"When music stars Roberta Flack, David Sanborn and Dr. John come to
Clearwater for a Super Bowl weekend concert, they will stay in
accommodations rarely seen by the public - the Church of Scientology's
signature spiritual retreat, the Fort Harrison Hotel. The church is
providing 36 rooms, some for two nights, for the performers and their
crews. And it's all free. The concert organizers, the Clearwater Jazz
Holiday organization, are paying nothing. "

Tory Bezazian reported that a Clearwater area church held a talk on
Scientology.

"Frank Oliver, Brian Haney and I sat and listened to a minister and friend
of Brian's speak to some 500-1000 people in their church as he not only
very accurately spoke of Scientology and it's relation to God, including
reading OT 3. Brain then spoke and answered some questions, and then we
all talked with different people after. I also enjoyed getting to tell
many more about the Trust, and what all they do."

Message-ID: <59im6t06slf6bhb0q986msm39vc7970gr9@...>
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#####

> Criminon

The Los Angeles Times reported on January 12th that a judge who has
referred people to Scientology's Criminon program is accused of not
performing his duties in court.

"A Los Angeles judge testified at his disciplinary hearing Wednesday that
he missed more than 400 work days in recent years because he has phobia
about being a judge. Superior Court Judge Patrick B. Murphy, taking the
witness stand in the third day of a hearing that could lead to his removal
from the bench, said a combination of illnesses, including chronic fatigue
syndrome, yielded a job phobia. He testified that each day he takes an
array of powerful pain killers and anxiety drugs for physical and
psychological ailments.

"Murphy, 45, is accused by the state Commission on Judicial Performance of
malingering, willful misconduct and dereliction of duty for excessive
absenteeism. He's accused of secretly attending Ross University School of
Medicine in the Caribbean last January while being paid his $122,000
salary."

Message-ID: <q2u77t0dmrsbu4o4alvj39fkpl2mi46kr5@...>

#####

> France

The Atlanta Constitution reported on January 27th that France will meet to
approve new anti-cult laws.

"French lawmakers next week are expected to approve a new anti-cult law
that mainstream church and civil liberties advocates are afraid will
diminish religious freedom in France and discourage traditional
evangelism.

"Opponents are particularly uncomfortable with a government report that
lists some 173 groups as dangerous cults. The list includes Mormons,
Unificationists, Jehovah's Witnesses and the Church of Scientology.
Despite widespread reports, the list does not include the Southern Baptist
Convention. Martin Weightman, a human rights monitor for the Church of
Scientology, said the legislation is a product of the government's fear of
upstart and unfamiliar religious groups. 'There is a hysteria, a
psychosis, within the French Senate that holds that these religions have
infiltrated society with negative intentions,' he said.

"The Scientologists are waging perhaps the most aggressive campaign
against the law. Some believe the legislation is a thinly veiled attempt
to strike out at the group, which has about 5,000 serious adherents and
another 40,000 to 50,000 people who have had some interaction with it."

Message-ID: <7vs57t400v68a1ue7v5ilaqsdfk98tmcqj@...>

#####

> In Memorium

Birgitta Harrington announced the passing of former Scientologist and
critic Joe Harrington.

"My husband Joseph J. Harrington left his body on the 25th of January 2001
at 10.30 pm local time. He had a smile on his lips and looked very
peaceful with a red rose in his hand and red roses and a candle light
aside. The taperecorder was playing the 'Going Home' tape to help him in
his transition, as he had asked for. I am glad that he finally could get
rest from all those terrible pains. Thanks to all who has given us
support and warming words and loving thoughts."

Message-ID: <e1g17tcpd4146v98v851k0lkujrhnbdj0c@...>

#####

> CC Int

The Celebrity Center in Losa Angeles is planning an event on February
18th.

"New OT VIIIs Deliver Golden Age of Tech Consultations, Free Metered
Interviews & Seminars. Free Metered Interviews. Free Personal
Consultations. Learn how to handle the MEST Universe. Get Questions about
your CASE Handled. Get help on your next step up The Bridge.

"Cause over Finances: Kevin Burke, CEO Wiseman & Burke and Solo NOTs
Auditor. How to Handle the MEST Universe with Gavin Potter First 30 Clears
to confirm will receive a FREE Manor Hotel brunch!"

Message-ID: <20010127210938.02113.00001616@...>

#####

> Narconon

Narconon has been accused of stealing the design of their websites from
another web site, urban75.com. From computerchannel.de on January 24th:

"Narconon is said to have copied the complete design of a popular British
web site. The operators of Urban75.com, which are involved in Rave,
Parties, Sports and Drug Information, have indicated in a letter to
Internet provider Earthlink that Narconon copied the design of a previous
version of the page, including lay-out, colors, symbols, even down to the
word selection.

"The Narconon web site advertises a program for drug rehabilitation which
is based on the 'teachings' of sect founder L. Ron Hubbard. Web surfers
are encouraged there to provide Narconon with the details of people they
know at risk to drugs. In past years, independent drug experts have
repeatedly warned the public about the program."

Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.96.1010126181030.116A-100000@...>

#####

> Protest Summary

Bruce Pettycrew reported a protest in Mesa, Arizona this week.

"Kathy and I picketed the Mesa org at the end of their 11:00 Sunday
service today. We arrived at about 11:45 and picketed until about 12:20.
There were 11 cars in the parking lot when we arrived and 3 left with a
total of 5 people while we were there, so the number of people at the
service was probably 20-30 at the very most. They had a sandwich board
sign out near the curb that said '11:00 Service. All Welcome.'"

Anonymous protesters distributed information about Scientology at a ski
race event in Austria this week.

"Hahnenkamm: mountain near Kitzbuehel in Tyrol, Austria, site of annual
international ski races. Kitzbuehel is like Wimbledon, business people and
celebrities as far as the eye can see. The most glamorous personalities in
High Society were present. We set up one of our publicity stands for
information about the Scientology sect at the 2,000 meter mark of the
Alpine idyll. The flow of people by our information stand was huge, all
our staff were completely involved in answering the many questions about
the not-so-nice machinations of the Scientology organization.

"We stayed in the Schwarzen Adler. Right in front of it we put up our
number 2 information stand. Just like the information stand at Hahnenkamm
it was working at full capacity. We had our third information stand in the
large auditorium of the Casino Austria in the Golden Greif Hotel, where
the social life of Kitzbuehel takes place in the evening. There was no
stopping the rush of people to our information stand. Many contacts were
made and our work was really a colossal success."

"Prior to their going to Kitzbuehel for the 2001 61st Hahnenkamm races,
the staff of ARS-CC Vienna went to the traditional Philharmonic ball at
the large music hall in Vienna on January 18, 2001. There was an
information stand in the foyer and several staff members from ARS-CC
Vienna mingled with the high-class guests from the worlds of art, culture,
business and politics in letting people know about the machinations of the
Scientology sect. It was even attended by Mr. Federal Chancellor, along
with everyone in Viennese Society. Since attendance at this social
happening every year is by invitation from the orchestra of the Viennese
Philharmonic only, it was a great honor for us to accept this again this
year."

"Rob" reported protesting against Scientology recruiters in Belfast,
Northern Ireland this week.

"I noticed someone with a Dublin accent talking to some girls about a book
in his hand called - Dianetics. So I wrote on a piece of paper 'He's from
a cult called Scientology and he wants you money, If I were you I'd walk
away' and held it behind him, he didn't notice me for about 10 minutes and
every person he stopped who seen me walked on. After 10 minutes the other
man saw me and came over and told me to f**k off, I then went on to tell
them what was wrong with Scientology and they were fooling no-one but
themselves. I pointed out their pale white skin and old clothing, I said
there are better ways of earning a living.

"I sat and butted in to their conversations with people for about the next
hour and really annoyed them. They threatened to call the police, I said
do you honestly think the RUC would take you serious, trust me the RUC
would laugh at a complaint like that. After that they went and sat on a
bench to see if I would leave, after 15 minutes I did."

Dave Bird reported protesting at the Birmingham org this week.

"Six of us turned out: me, John, Jens, plus Roland and Hartley on a later
train, and one local woman. A few reconnoiters show that the normal
complement is two body-routers out, but they put on an 'all-clams' alert
when we come and turn 6 to 8 people out of the office. John and I
alternated on the boom-box and about 400 leaflets were issued. At one
point people were grabbing them from my hand faster than I could hand them
out. Total time just after 13:05 to about 15:25."

Message-ID: <3TJa6.156846$15.34505026@...>
Message-ID: <REPOST-Pine.LNX.3.96.1010121161733.114A-100000@...>
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.96.1010123171936.114A-100000@...>
Message-ID: <stt57tsgl4evnsbe291qhj3s00lj2fgljh@...>
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#####

> Toronto

The Toronto Sun published an article on January 26th on a visit to the org
and discussions with Scientologists there.

"There seemed to be a lot of activity around the front door of the Church
of Scientology at the corner of Yonge and St. Mary Streets. I found was a
guy named Bill Osvath. 'I got involved 26 years ago,' he says. 'It has
helped me out a lot personally.' Today, he has a wife and four children,
lives in the suburbs and loves watching movies. 'I still go to the United
Church at Christmas,' he laughs.

"He also laughs when people think of Scientology as a cult. He says if you
look in the dictionary under cult it merely describes a group of people
with a leader. 'You could say The Toronto Sun is a cult,' he teases. The
church has been at that corner for 20 years and inside that large building
in which they own a number of offices, meeting rooms and at the back is a
chapel.

"Bill also talked about the time he met John Travolta, who was quietly in
town with his Scientologist wife, actor Kelly Preston. 'They called and
asked if John could come down and take a course,' Bill recalls. 'We said,
sure we'd love to have him. He was very nice.'"

Message-ID: <ms437tkndr0s3ioe4603a3ubjoviqae737@...>

#####

> Zenon Panoussis <oracle@...>

Hearings in the appeal by Zenon Panoussis, who is being charged by
Scientology with copyright violations, continued this week. Karin Spaink
posted summaries and transcripts to a.r.s.

"Magnusson starts by protesting my presence during last Friday's closed
door sessions. I wrote about these closed-door sessions, he informs the
court, and published my notes to alt.religion.scientology. Thus, I broke
the confidentiality that RTC tried to maintain with such difficulty. Zenon
replies that secrecy is only limited to actual parts of the scriptures
discovered within these closed-door sessions, not to anything else, and I
did not reveal any of that.

"The court are not sure whether my use of the term 'body thetan' in the
previous report is justified. Zenon argues that far before he ever got
into a dispute with Scientology in 1996, that word was already being used
by other people in public discussions about Scientology. We are called in
to hear their decision. Although I walked a tight line, the court states,
they found me neither incapable nor unsuitable to be Zenon's bitrade.
There was no contempt of court. I can stay.

Mikael Nystrom's is the internet and computer expert who in primary court
stated under oath that a series of NOTs postings to a.r.s. - dated May 2,
1996, postings that Zenon disputes he ever made - could not, or could
almost not have been falsified. Meanwhile, it has been proven that such a
message can be falsified: a few weeks ago a message was posted to a.r.s.
having the exact same headers and that message was purportedly written by
Mikael Nystrom.

"Today's session went well: we have caught Alexandersson with errors, and
Nystrom by now has admitted that it is not at all as difficult to fake a
posting as he previously stated.

Zenon has new evidence and presents it to the court; it is a result of my
transcript of McShane's testimony as posted to the internet. Zenon got an
e-mail from somebody who claims that the NOTs are also studied privately
and that more people have read the NOTs than McShane claimed in his
deposition. The actual evidence is on its way and will be presented to
court as soon as DHL allows it: an issue of Source Magazine and a copy of
International Scientology News.

"Discussion about damages and legal costs. Magnusson again enumerates the
instances in which Zenon infringed upon RTC's rights and states the
grounds for and the amount of damages that RTC claims: Payment for usage:
10,000 SEK the standard tariff being, according to the tariff of the
Swedish Writer's Guild, 160,000 SEK. Tort for material damage: 10,000 SEK
which includes their economical damage, money spent on guarding the
material, loss of customers, market shares and license proceeds.
Immaterial damages: 5,000 SEK loss of good name, hurt feelings etc. Apart
from that, RTC demands the destruction of any secret and confidential
material that Zenon has in his possession, has published or has
distributed.

"A few ex-members who had been rather high in Scientology confirmed that
Class IX Auditors were presented with a Freeloader's bill, so that yes,
payment was expected for the NOTs Pack. Others told us that not only Class
IX Auditors got to see the actual NOTs Pack: huge parts of the NOTs Pack
are part of OT6 and OT7.

"We have caught McShane with something very close to perjury. This amounts
to more than telling 'acceptable truths': he has been weaseling and
withholding information that he was pressed for. If Magnusson stops us
from bringing this testimony in on Friday, we will prove it afterwards
anyway and if we do that, the whole case could have to be started all over
again - while by then Magnusson's prime witness, and actually the party
that he is representing, will have been revealed to be dishonest, to say
the least.

"Magnusson's grudgingly admits that yes, indeed, there are invoices
involved for the Class IX Auditors, but those are only a symbolical
formality, not a real bill. Only those who wish to leave the Sea Org but
not Scientology are expected to pay them. And besides, of all Sea Org
staff, only one percent ever leaves. And the court must understand that
RTC admitting this is merely a generous gesture towards Zenon, not an
admittance of error of any sorts. As for NOTs being part of the OT6 and
OT7 course, that is definitely not true.


"Zenon submits to the court that McShane has not been telling the truth
and that he can prove as much. Didn't Magnusson bring in four witnesses
that have to quite some degree disqualified themselves? Didn't we have
Small hiding the fact that he was actively employed by RTC when he rushed
to their defence? Didn't we have Mikael Nystrom who had said that Usenet
postings could not be falsified, and who now admitted that they could.
Didn't we have the notary public vowing that she had made a random
selection of the Monkey NOTs, while now it transpired that she selected
only those Monkey NOTs that she 'recognised' as infringing? And on top of
that, now we have Magnusson's main witness, actually his client, evading
the truth and perhaps downward lying to us.

"The chair announces that final pleas will be held. Magnussson goes first.
He focuses very much on first publication, quotes a lot of foreign
rulings, and seems to come up with more rhetoric than legal arguments. He
also claims that the Court in my case made a severe error, because they
believed that 25,000 copies of OT3 were made while that number only
pertained to the amount of people who had studied them. This is a blatant
lie: the court in my case never said anything to this account.

"Zenon explains to the court Scientology's principle of 'acceptable
truths' and illustrates it with the testimonies that we have heard. Vorm,
Small, Alexandersson, and McShane himself - all of them have been proven
to have been withholding parts of the truth, or sometimes reverted to
claiming that 'they didn't know' when an answer would be too damaging. The
court must also take into account that Vorm, Small and McShane have big
economic, social and religious stakes in what they say. They are not
objective witnesses, they have their position and their religion to
defend.

"Discussing the identity of the texts, Zenon stresses that modifications
abound, different versions have been used through time, and that texts are
often revised. We simply have no means of knowing what exactly is
registered with the US Copyright Office; it is masked, after all.

"Zenon harps upon McShane's definition of 'infringement': paraphrasing is
infringement; the use of certain words is a infringement, quoting is an
infringement, actually, any use of any part of any text outside the church
is an infringement. When Zenon quoted mere captions of a part of OT2 in
the Fishman Affidavit, without ever including the actual sections
underneath each caption, that was labeled as an infringement too.

"Zenon lists the reasons why the OTs and NOTs should be considered to have
been legally published. The amount of people who accessed the NOTs (5,000
to 7,000) and the OTs (25,000); the translation of the OTs into four
languages; the commercial offering of the OTs and NOTs to all eight
million Scientologists via the Scientology magazine 'Source'; the
accessibility of OTs and NOTs for all Scientologists; and the paying for
these courses - each and every one of these elements is in itself
sufficient to constitute publication.

"Religious freedom: other Scientologists, not part of the official church,
are not allowed to practice their religion. McShane has even testified
here that one of the reasons for RTC registering the advanced material was
so that they could sue people who used the material outside the church.
These people, the free Scientologists, have a constitutional right to be
able to practice their religion without having to pay any particular
organisation.

"Ruling due in 6 weeks: March 9, 11:00 CET."

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