Europe: Lost Pages
US copyright law puts damper on Net
criticism
/
Google example
by Konrad Lischka
Andreas Heldal-Lund, Norwegian freethinker and activist
for freedom
of opinion on the Internet, celebrated the sixth anniversary of his
Internet site,
"Operation Clambake," on November 7, 2002. For six years he has
spoken
up for Scientology victims and published the truth about Scientology on
the Internet.
We congratulate Andreas Heldal-Lund and his "Operation Clambake"
at
http://www.xenu.net on this anniversary
by reprinting
an article from the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper, which appeared April
2nd
of this year.
It's not usual for a church to us the copyright law to obstruct the
distribution
of its teachings. There is, however, some dispute as to whether the "
Church"
of Scientology rightly calls itself as such, or whether is is really a
"business
concern that operates worldwide," of which, for example, the Bavarian
Interior
Ministry is convinced. Scientology has now given a new argument to the
other side.
It has had links to the xenu.net pages of Norwegian Scientology opponent
Andreas
Heldal-Lund removed from the Google search engine. This was done quite
legally,
but without any decision from a court.
On March 8 the law offices of Moxon & Kobrin in Los Angeles e-
mailed a
demand to the US Google company to remove 126 Internet pages from their
search
engine. An enclosure listed the pages in question and the text which was
protected
by copyright. It included 26 photographs from Scientology magazines, but
far more
important were the 85 text pages.
Andreas Heldal-Lund had cited examples on his web pages from
Scientology's
internal documents, including a description of "dead agenting, a
technique
used for the purpose of discrediting critics. The lawyer's e-mail to
Google did
not dispute the truthfulness of Heldal-Lund's specifications.
Instead, the attorneys indicated that their clients, Religious
Technology Center
and Bridge Publications, owned the copyright to the documents, and that
they had
not agreed to their publication. In addition, 54 of Scientology's
registered trademarks
- including words like "Scientology," "Dianetics," and
"Hubbard"
- were being used without permission.
The Google search system responded on March 20th. Heldal-Lund learned
by e-mail
that all the pages from his site listed by the law offices had been
removed from
the search index. In other words, anyone who used the largest and most
well-known
search engine on March 20 to look for critical information about
Scientology would
see nothing of his extensive display of pages.
http://www.vg.no/vg/96/11/16/scientol1.jpg
Heldal-Lund publicly broadcast the proceedings on March 21 on an
Internet discussion
forum, resulting in a storm of protest. Presumably as a result of this,
Google
made a decision to restore at least the most important of the affected
pages at
www.xenu.net back into its index. Other
pages
with detailed information remained out.
Thus it is shown how difficult it is to differentiate between
legitimate investigation
of copyright violations and an attempt at censorship using copyright.
Heldal-Lund
himself admits to using material protected by copyright. He nevertheless
feels
justified, because, as he says, "Scientology is using copyright to
keep information
about its founder's teachings from the public."
The validity of the argument has never been tested in court. No court
was involved
in removing the pages from Google's search index. The reason, in
accordance with
the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), is that a service
provider, like
Google, is not liable for content if it makes copyrighted material
available without
knowing it. Once it's notified, however, the company has a difficult
decision
to make. Either it blocks access to the content, upon which it cannot be
held
liable if a court later decides that the material constitutes a copyright
violation,
or the provider waits until the holder of the rights takes legal steps
against
someone like Heldal-Lund.
If it then turns out in court that a violation of copyright has
occurred, then
the service provider is held liable because an attempt was made to have
the material
in question removed. The German Information and Communication Service law,
along
with the European Community's E-commerce directives, also provide for a
"notice
and take down" process.
The final decision lies with the service provider. Other cases have
already
shown that the preference is to block pages that contain critical content
rather
than run the liability risk. The consequence is that critics like Heldal-
Lund
are having a harder time getting attention on the Internet. The Norwegian
has
not approached a US court about access to his site being blocked, as he
could
not afford attorney's fees. Attorney Helena Kobrin indicated that they
were not
abusing the law, but that they were using copyright very aggressively.
She's right
there.
Of course that doesn't say anything for that particular law.
Source: Frankfurter Rundschau of April 2, 2002
2003 Leipzig Human Rights Award
(originally the "2000 Alternative Charlemagne Award")
Norwegian IT professional wins Leipzig Human Rights Award
Advocate for Free Speech and information about Scientology in the Internet
The European-American Citizens Committee for Human Rights and Religious
Freedom
in the USA (EACC) has announced Andreas Heldal-Lund of Stavanger, Norway
as the
recipient of the 2003 Leipzig Human Rights Award. The award will be
presented on May 18 in the Old Stock Market in Leipzig, the city known as
the birth
place of the East German civil rights movement.
Mr. Heldal-Lund is the fourth recipient of the Leipzig Award, which has
been given each year to individuals who have made outstanding
contributions to
the achieving of the human rights reforms that the EEAC seeks in US-
operated
totalitarian cults. Previous Leipzig Award recipients have been Robert
Minton, American
retired banker and civil rights activist; Dr. Norbert Blüm, former
German
Federal Minister of Labor; and Alain Vivien, then President of the Mission
Interministerielle pour la Lutte Contre les Sectes for the Prime Minister
of the Republic of
France (MILS).
Mr. Heldal-Lund is an Information Technology professional and free
speech proponent who created and maintains the most famous Internet site
in the world that
exposes and opposes the fraud and human rights violations of the US-based
Scientology organization -- Operation Clambake http://www.xenu.net.
Scientology has
attacked Mr. Heldal-Lund and his Internet Service Providers with lawyer
threat
letters and a black propaganda campaign, and caused a succession of ISPs
to
terminate his service.
In February 2002, bowing to pressure from Scientology lawyers employing
the US law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), the widely
used
Internet search engine Google removed links to Operation Clambake from its
directory. But Mr. Heldal-Lund held his ground, contending that
Scientology withholds
important information about its teachings that he was making available,
and that
people perhaps would not join the cult if the full information was
accessible.
Free speech advocates around the world rushed to his defense, mounted an
Internet and
print media campaign, and forced Google to put Clambake back into its
search
engine.
During his years of activism against Scientology human rights abuses,
in addition to his webmaster work, Mr. Heldal-Lund has given talks to
various groups,
generated a tremendous quantity of excellent news stories, and been a
respected and
valuable contributor to the Internet newsgroup alt.religion.scientology.
Although he has been a target of Scientology legal and extralegal
threats, and black PR throughout these years, Mr. Heldal-Lund has stayed
light
hearted, kept his sense of humor, and sustained his desire to help the
cult's
victims. In defiance of Scientology's policy of shuddering its media
critics into
silence, this past November 7 he celebrated Clambake's sixth year of
spreading the
truth about this dangerous organization.
The EEAC echoes Mr. Heldal-Lund's words from Operation Clambake: "
People should be free to believe whatever they want, including
Scientology. What
I have against [the organization] is its deceitfulness, its lack of
compassion
for its members (especially the hard-working staff), its aggressive hard
sell, its
arrogance, its attack on free speech, its litigiousness, its harassment of
its
critics, its lack of concern for families, its gross neglect and abuse of
children."
The Committee: Gerry Armstrong, British Columbia, Canada, Writer -
Prof. Claire Champollion, Paris, France, Linguist, Researcher and Author -
Joe Cisar,
M.S., Cleveland, Ohio, Vietnam Veteran, Journalist - Prof. Alexander
Dvorkin,
Moscow, Russia, Director of the St. Irenaeus-of-Lyon-Center - Rev. Thomas
Gandow,
Berlin, Germany, Publisher of Berliner Dialog - Mike Garde, Dublin,
Ireland, Dialogue Ireland - Roger Gonnet, Paris, France, Author - Friedrich
Griess, Vienna,
Austria, Engineer, Press Spokesman of Gesellschaft gegen Kultgefahren
Ö
sterreich - Birgitta Harrington, Accountant, Helsingborg, Sweden - Tilman
Hausherr,
Berlin, Germany, Software Developer - Ursula MacKenzie, Retiree, London,
United
Kingdom - Solveig Prass, Leipzig, Germany, Business Manager EBI Leipzig -
Prof.
Johannes Aagaard, Aarhus, Denmark, President of the Dialog Center
International
(DCI) ]
The European-American Citizens Committee for Human Rights and Religious
Freedom in the USA was organized to work toward achieving the following
reforms:
- Freedom for everyone to speak about his experiences, knowledge and
thoughts in any organization, church or cult, be it religious or not;
- Freedom for members of an organization, church or cult, religious or
not, to leave that organization, without being detained, threatened or
persecuted;
- Freedom from fear of being confronted with material that a religious
or therapeutic organization has obtained through religious or spiritual
counseling; Such
material should not be allowed to be used for publication, litigation, or
blackmail;
- Freedom from persecution through Copyright Laws; such laws should not
be used against members who try to support their arguments by citing
"
church scriptures" or "spiritual literature" or other texts
associated with the group;
- Full application of law enforcement to prosecute fraud, mental and
physical abuse hidden behind the shield of "religion";
- Refusal / Withdrawal of tax exemptions for secretive organizations,
be they religious or not. Full disclosure of past secret agreements with
the IRS.
For further information about supporting the EEAC's reform goals and
Mr. Heldal-Lund as the 2003 Leipzig Human Rights Award recipient, or about
attending the
award event, contact:
Dialog Zentrum Berlin
Heimat 27, D- 14165 Berlin
Telefon +49 30/ 815 70 40
Telefax +49 30/ 845 09 640
Email: info@berliner-dialog.de
Internet:
http://www.dialogzentrum.de
Norwegian Internet expert receives Human Rights Award
The German Evangelical Alliance also congratulates the Scientology opponent
IDEA
May 6, 2003
Berlin / Leipzig (idea) - This year's Leipzig Human Rights Award, which is conferred by the European-American Citizens Committee for Human Rights and Religious Freedom in the USA, an international organization of Scientology opponents, goes to Andreas Heldal-Lund, the Norwegian Internet specialist. His web site exposes "Scientology's deception and practices of human rights violations", as reported by the organizers of the award. It has been conferred since 2000 upon people who oppose the "dangers of totalitarian cults." Past award winners include former Labor Minister Norbert Bluem and French Minister Alain Vivien. The award committee's members include Reverend Thomas Gandow, the Berlin-Brandenburg representative on weltanschauung and sects. The Work Group for Religious Freedom of the German Evangelical Alliance also congratulates Heldal-Lund.
Frankfurter Rundschau
May 15, 2003
People in the News
Andreas Heldal-Lund / Johannes Rau
Andreas Heldal-Lund
The Norwegian Internet expert from Stavanger is receiving this year's Leipzig Human Rights Award on Sunday. For six years Heldal-Lund has been engaged in uncovering the human rights violations of the cult-like Scientology organization, as reported by the "European-American Citizens Committee for Human rights and Religious Freedom in the USA" in Berlin on Wednesday. The recipients of the unremunerated honor, bestowed since 2000 in the form of a glass-contained sculpture with an image of the Leipzig Nikolas Church, include former federal labor minister Norbert Bluem (CDU). In presenting its award to individuals, the Committee hopes to promote "human rights reforms" among cult-like organizations. (epd)
Johannes Rau
[On the same page is a little article on German Federal President Johannes Rau giving his "Berlin speech" on foreign policy on May 19 in the Berlin Maxim Gorki Theater.]
Anti-Scientology site spurs award
By Lisa M. Bowman Staff Writer, CNET News.com May 1, 2003, 2:56 PM PT
A critic of the Church of Scientology, Andreas Heldal-Lund, has received a human rights award for maintaining his Web page despite repeated legal attacks from church officials. Heldal-Lund, a Norwegian citizen who operates the Operation Clambake Web site, is the fourth recipient of the Leipzig Human Rights Award. Church of Scientology officials have tried to silence Heldal-Lund by, among other things, asking Google and the Internet archive site Archive.org to pull links to his site, claiming that material on its pages violates church copyrights.
http://www.freiepresse.de
Leipzig Human Rights Award conferred upon Norwegian Heldal-Lund
Freie Presse Chemnitz
May 18, 2003
Leipzig (ddp-lsc). The 2003 Leipzig Human Rights Award has been given to a Norwegian, Andreas Heldal-Lund. The information technology specialist was honored in the Fair City [Leipzig] on Sunday for his work against the Scientology cult and his efforts towards freedom of speech on the Internet. For almost seven years, Heldal-Lund has maintained a web site by the name of Operation Clambake, in which he distributes information about the Scientology organization.
Last year's award winner Alain Vivien said in his laudation that Heldal-Lund had revealed the machinations of the Scientologists with "respect and intelligence." In doing this he was helping both potential and past victims.
In his acceptance speech, Heldal-Lund emphasized the role of the citizen in the fight for basic rights, such as freedom of speech. He said that these rights being anchored in the Constitution is not good enough. Therefore every individual should deliberate on how to put a stop to such churches and organizations. Also people had to continue to earn their basic rights.
Heldal-Lund uses his Internet pages to inform people about the doctrines and practices of Scientology that the organization itself does not want published. Despite legal complaints from Scientology and temporary boycotts from several Internet Service Providers, Heldal-Lund has not shut down his web site. Back in February [2002], the Google search engine had removed several links to Heldal-Lund's home page from its index. An Internet and print media campaign convinced Google in short order to again include Operation Clambake in its listings.
The unremunerated human rights award, crafted by Leipzig artists Ruediger Bartels, first came into existence as the Alternative Charlemagne Award in the year 2000. It is conferred annually by the European-American Citizens Committee for Human Rights and Religious Freedom in the USA. Besides Americans and Germans, the committee includes members from England, Austria, Russia and Sweden. The Citizens Committee was formed in 1997 and opposes physical and psychological abuse of humans under the pretext of religion, among other things. One of the people who received the award prior to Heldal-Lund was former Labor Minister Norbert Bluem. (www.xenu.net)
(ddp)
http://www.pipeline.de
Human Rights Award for Norwegian IT specialist
dpa May 18, 2003
Leipzig (dpa) - On Sunday Norwegian information technology specialist Andreas Heldal-Lund became the fourth recipient of the Leipzig Human Rights Award. The Norwegian is being honored by the European-American Citizens Committee for Human Rights and Religious Freedom in the USA for his involvement on the Internet against the controversial Scientology organization.
For six years Heldal-Lund has maintain the Operation Clambake web site, which exposes the background and the methods of operation of Scientology.
The international citizens committee shows its banner in the fight against Scientology. Every year since 2000, it has given the unremunerated award to person who have made a strong showing for human rights and religious freedom. Those honored thus far include form Labor Minister Norbert Bluem (CDU).
Internet: Andreas Heldal-Lund's pages critical of Scientology: http://www.xenu.net
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