Vor ein paar Tagen hat Scientology eine Seite online gestellt, auf der die vermeintlichen Verbrechen von 'Anonymous' angeprangert wurden. Bezeichnend der Titel der Seite: "www.anonymousexposed.org". Heute ist das Video, welches Anonymous "exposed" nicht mehr erreichbar, stattdessen... naja seht selbst:

www.anonymousexposed.org

Ob die Seite tatsächlich von der Co$ ins Netz gestellt wurde bleibt fragwürdig, da auf der Seite netterweise darauf hingewiesen wird, dass: "parody site not affiliated with CoS. you got rick rolled!".

So oder so, ein sehr schöne Aktion. ;-)

L. Ron's Geburtstag steht an und zu diesem Anlass hat die St. Petersburg Times etwas berichtet:

Scientology fights back in court

CLEARWATER - With the Internet activist group Anonymous threatening a second round of protests against Scientology this weekend, the Clearwater-based church went to court late Tuesday, filing a petition for a temporary restraining order.

The petition was filed just before the close of court Tuesday afternoon, and the St. Petersburg Times could not obtain a copy of the petition.

Pat Harney, a spokeswoman for the Church of Scientology in Clearwater, confirmed the church had filed a request for a temporary restraining order, but on the advice of counsel, she refused to provide a copy of the lawsuit or discuss who it seeks to restrain.

Anonymous, which describes itself as a loosely affiliated group united against the injustices perpetrated by Scientology, coalesced in January after a video of Scientologist Tom Cruise was leaked to YouTube and then promptly removed because of threats from Scientology attorneys.

Members of Anonymous claimed this was an affront to the freedom of the Internet. A video message from Anonymous taunting the leaders of Scientology received more than 2-million views on YouTube.

On Feb. 10, some 200 people participated in an Anonymous-organized demonstration against Scientology in downtown Clearwater. Similar protests were held in cities around the world.

In Clearwater, church security videotaped and photographed protesters, most of whom disguised their faces with fake beards, face paint, scarves and bandannas.

While Anonymous Web sites ask members to protest peacefully and state they mean no harm to Scientology's members, Harney said, "we have evidence to the contrary."

Before the lawsuit was filed Tuesday, Harney said the church has documented threats made by members of Anonymous, and provided those threats to Clearwater police. "Of course, we are concerned about the safety of our group," Harney said.

Representatives of Anonymous could not be reached for comment.

This weekend's protests by Anonymous - dubbed "Party Hard" - were timed to coincide with Scientology's annual celebration of founder L. Ron Hubbard's birthday on Thursday.

According to Web sites affiliated with Anonymous, members of the group plan to protest in 50 cities worldwide. In Clearwater, they will gather Friday evening outside Ruth Eckerd Hall, where Scientology will hold its annual gala event.

A larger protest is planned Saturday in downtown Clearwater, where the church's international religious headquarters are located. "We are taking every security measure we can," Harney said. "We are not taking this lightly."

Es sind wieder Proteste geplant. In Hamburg wird nach meinen Angaben morgens ein kostenloser Bus bereit stehen um Protestanten nach Berlin zu bringen. Dort wird der Hauptprotest in Deutschland stattfinden, unter anderem mit Unterstützung von Ursula Caberta.

Informationen können folgenden Seiten entnommen werden:
Enturbulation.org
gefunden.cjb.net
www.chanology.de
http://wiki.costruth.com

PARTY HARD!



UPDATE: Ein schönes Video ;-)

A growing number of critics and disgruntled ex-members are using the Web to attack the church's tightly controlled image.

"We were born. We grew up. We escaped."

So reads the motto of ExScientologyKids.com, a website launched Thursday by three young women raised in the Church of Scientology who are speaking out against the religion. Their website accuses the church of physical abuse, denying some children a proper education and alienating members from family.

One of the women behind the site, Jenna Miscavige Hill, is the niece of David Miscavige, the head of the church, and Kendra Wiseman is the daughter of Bruce Wiseman, president of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, a Scientology-sponsored organization opposed to the practice of psychiatry.

The day before ExScientologyKids.com launched, another inflammatory allegation about the church began to circulate virulently online. "L. Ron Hubbard Plagiarized Scientology," read a headline at the popular Internet culture blog BoingBoing. The post linked to images of a translated 1934 German book called "Scientologie," which critics say contains similar themes to Hubbard's Scientology, which he codified in 1952, according to a church website.

These were just the latest in a series of Scientology-related stories to burn across the Internet like grass fires in recent weeks, testing the church's well-established ability to tightly control its public image. The largest thorn in the church's side has been a group called Anonymous, a diffuse online coalition of skeptics, hackers and activists, many of them young and Web-savvy. The high-wattage movement has inspired former Scientologists to come forward and has repeatedly trained an Internet spotlight on any story or rumor that portrays Scientology in unflattering terms.

No corner of the Web, it appears, is safe for Scientology. Blogger and lawyer Scott Pilutik recently posted a story noting that Scientology was yanking down EBay auctions for used e-meters, the device the church uses for spiritual counseling. EBay allows brand owners -- Louis Vuitton or Rolex, say -- to remove items they believe infringe on their trademark or patent rights. Basically, fakes. But, Pilutik said, the used e-meters being taken down were genuine. Reselling them was no different than putting a for-sale sign on your old Chevy.

"What's actually going on here," he wrote, is that the church is "knowingly alleging intellectual property violations that clearly don't exist." Within a day Pilutik's blog had gotten over 45,000 visitors -- so much traffic that his site crashed completely.

Facing a steady stream of negative publicity and a growing number of critical voices, Scientology has found itself on the defensive.

The church has referred to Anonymous as a group of "cyber-terrorists" and, in a statement, said the group's aims were "reminiscent of Al Qaeda spreading anti-American hatred and calling for U.S. destruction."

"These people are posing extremely serious death threats to our people," said church spokeswoman Karin Pouw in a phone interview. "We are talking about religious hatred and bigotry."

A recent video posted to YouTube contained a threat to bomb a Southern California Scientology building. An FBI spokeswoman said an investigation was in progress but that no suspects had been identified.

Reporters have long had to tread carefully when writing about Scientology, fearful that lawsuits and other kinds of retaliation would follow any story that Scientology did not like. But that may be changing.

"Before this Internet onslaught," said Douglas Frantz, a contributing editor at Portfolio magazine who covered Scientology for the New York Times in the 1990s (and is a former editor at the L.A. Times), "they were always able to go after their critics and do a good job of being able to discredit or intimidate them."

Angry former church members also perceive a kind of safety in numbers afforded by the Internet, and more are coming forward to share their stories.

"People have been scared out of their minds to speak out about Scientology," said Hill, Miscavige's niece, in an interview. "Nobody should have to be that scared to speak out about a church."

Wiseman echoed the sentiment, adding that the Anonymous campaign had influenced her decision to reveal her identity last week. "The Internet is listening. If something happens to me, all of these people will know."

But now that goal will have to exist alongside a seemingly steady stream of online attacks. And while anonymous political activity, such as postering around a town, is nothing new, Bridges noted, the speed of the Web is what is giving Scientology trouble.

"What's different is that more people can see the stuff faster than Scientology can go around and get it taken down."

(.....)

Quelle

In der C't war ein Bericht über 4Chan und die ganze Scientologysache. Ich habs mal gepackt und bei Rapidshare hochgeladen. KLICK MICH
Ist durchaus lesenswert. Für L. Rons Geburtstagsraid am 15. März gibts hier bestimmt nochmal Instruktionen wenn es soweit ist. Bis jetzt: 15. März - 11 Uhr

Scientology abuses eBay's VeRO program to practice religious, price discrimination

By the time Bill (not his real name) left the Church of Scientology a few years ago, he had amassed quite a collection of Scientology material—mostly books, tapes, e-meters. But ex-members of Scientology (especially staff members) find themselves in a difficult spot in this regard when they leave Scientology: their books, tapes, and e-meters are only valued by Scientologists, who, quite inconveniently, are strongly discouraged (read: disallowed) from communicating with ex-members—as any ex-Scientologist will tell you.

Not surprisingly, he turned to eBay, where a Scientologist buyer can remain blissfully unaware that his seller is a declared suppressive person. But every time he attempts to sell his e-meter on eBay, the listing is removed within hours by the Church of Scientology, which claims that the listing violates their intellectual property rights.

See screenshots of the auctions while they were up here [update; personal info redacted] and here, and respective "Invalid Item" eBay pages here and here. And it’s not just Bill—I’ve watched numerous e-meter listings from other sellers removed before they even receive a bid.

If you’re uninitiated to eBay, you’d probably think that for each of these removals, the Church of Scientology informs eBay of the violation of its rights, eBay considers the merits of their argument, and then only then does eBay yank the listing. But that’s not what happens at all. Instead, eBay effectively deputizes Scientology, which logs into eBay and removes the listings itself.

The mechanism that permits the Church of Scientology (and others) such broad access and discretion is called the Verified Rights Owner ("VeRO") Program. Membership in VeRO is obtained simply by submitting a form to eBay explaining that you are an Intellectual Property rights holder.

It should come as little surprise that VeRO members routinely overreach, as the cost of challenging a listing removal is almost always prohibitive. The VeRO Program makes a great deal of sense for some types of listings—counterfeit Rolexes and Gucci handbags appear on eBay with such frequent regularity that those companies would be hard pressed to handle these trademark violations any other way.

But Bill's e-meters (and the e-meters other ex-Scientologists have attempted to sell on eBay) are not counterfeits and do not violate the Church of Scientology's trademarks, patents, or copyrights. Some sellers have even included the serial number found at the bottom of each e-meter in their listings in order to authenticate them. There is no source confusion, as every seller whose e-meters have been removed have made it clear that they took the photo of the e-meter, and that they are not affiliated with the Church of Scientology. Patent law doesn't prevent the resale of patented items, and patent law barely covers e-meters anyway, the first having run out years ago and the 2000 patent only covering "improvements" on the "Quantum" e-meter. And copyright law barely applies here—all of the listings I've observed have been originally written, for one thing, and regardless, Scientology (from what I can gather) has only issued VeRO complaints under patent and trademark bases.

In short, the Church of Scientology is at least constructively aware that the e-meters being listed on eBay are authentic, and so have no basis under trademark—or under any other intellectual property basis, for removing these listings. What's actually going on here is that Scientology is abusing eBay's VeRO program, knowingly alleging Intellectual Property violations that clearly don't exist, so that they can limit the secondary market for e-Meters, controlling both the price and who can get them.

It shouldn’t shock anyone that Scientology is trying to limit (if not eliminate) the secondary marketplace for e-meters, since they have a strong motivation to control the price on e-meters from their own production line (they update to a newer more expensive model every few years), and a strong motivation to control to whom they're sold. The economic motivation should be clear enough—Scientology doesn't want what few members it has being exposed to a secondary market because it would undermine their monopoly on a prohibitively expensive and infrequently purchased item.

Scientology's other motivation for wanting to be the only game in town is intrinsically cultish—it has long perpetuated the idea that e-meters should never be used outside of the auspices of the Church. In other words, not only should Scientology be the sole sale source, but it should also be able to dictate every element of the post-sale environment—who can use it, how it can be used, etc. If e-meters are being sold on eBay, it doesn't know the purchaser and can't therefore control how and by whom it's used.

Indeed, the warning label at the bottom of each e-meter demonstrates the kind of control to which I’m referring. The need for a label came about after the FDA took offense at Scientology’s claim that the e-meter retained medical benefits; the court eventually agreed with the FDA and mandated a disclaimer, which has morphed from the original into the following:

By itself, this meter does nothing. It is solely for the guide of Ministers of the Church in Confessionals and pastoral counseling. The Electrometer is not medically or scientifically capable of improving the health or bodily function of anyone and is for religious use by students and Ministers of the Church of Scientology only. (emphasis added)

But if the Church of Scientology has no real legal basis by which to remove eBay listings of e-meters, why would it assert, under penalty of perjury (as it must do to use eBay’s VeRO program), that it has "good faith belief" that the listing they are removing constitutes an infringement? It's a roll of the dice no doubt, but the odds are in its favor that Bill—like almost anyone else similarly situated—will not sue to have the listing restored, litigation being profoundly cost prohibitive, especially against the Scientology litigation machine, even where the item removed could have sold for up to $5,000.

But Bill and the other similarly afflicted sellers are not without a legal basis for a complaint. It's possible to argue that Scientology is engaging in price fixing, tortious interference with a contract, misrepresentation, perjury, unfair competition, discriminatory business practices, and religious discrimination, to name a few off the top of my head. Scientology's intellectual property rights in its e-meter stop well short of being able to prevent a secondary market from existing, but eBay's VeRO program permits them to essentially do just that.

This is not a new development—it’s been going on for nearly 8 years, as this Slashdot story shows. But it’s high time eBay did something about it.

Quelle

CLEARWATER - Shawn Lonsdale, whose one-man crusade against Scientology made him a public enemy of the church, was found dead at his home over the weekend in an apparent suicide. He was 39.

Police discovered Lonsdale's body at 12:20 p.m. Saturday after neighbors reported a foul odor. They found a garden hose stretched from the exhaust pipe of Lonsdale's car into a window of his home at 510 N Lincoln Ave., according to Clearwater police spokeswoman Elizabeth Daly-Watts.

Daly-Watts said there were no signs of foul play, and police found what appeared to be a suicide note. It was not immediately available.

The medical examiner's office said the official cause of death is pending toxicology reports.

It was a lonely end for a man who emerged out of nowhere in 2006 as a thorn in the side of the Church of Scientology.

For a few months in mid to late 2006, Lonsdale stood alone in downtown Clearwater beside a sandwich board that read "Cult Watch" in the heart of Scientology's religious headquarters.

Videocamera in hand, he taped hours and hours of footage: Scientology buildings, church staffers walking the streets, security guards watching his movements and verbal confrontations with Scientologists. He then edited them into a "pseudo-documentary" about Scientology that eventually aired on local cable television.

Lonsdale, who was never a Scientologist, was an odd nemesis. He had no connection to the church before arguing with a Scientologist over redevelopment issues at a Clearwater City Council meeting.

But the self-described loner stepped into his new role with enthusiasm. At night, he dropped fliers on the doorsteps of downtown businesses. On his lunch break, he parked his car across the street from the church's cafeteria with posters in his window that claimed people could find free versions of secret church texts on the Internet. He even picked church-related documents from piles of trash in front of a Scientology-owned business and posted some of the documents online.

The Church of Scientology and some its members fought back. They hired a private investigator to look into Lonsdale's background and found two misdemeanor convictions for lewd and lascivious conduct, both related to public sex with men, in 1999 and 2000.

They called Lonsdale's employer at a title company and his landlord and said that Lonsdale was a religious bigot, possibly dangerous.

In the fall of 2006, the church subpoenaed Lonsdale for a deposition, contending he was an agent of an anti-Scientology group that was legally barred from protesting in certain places downtown. Attorney Luke Lirot, who has battled Scientology in the past, came to Lonsdale's aid.

"I found him to be quite affable and truly a very intelligent man," Lirot said in an interview Monday. "I certainly hope that a very thorough investigation is conducted."

In the last year, though, the confrontation between Lonsdale and the Church of Scientology seemed to have run its course.

Lonsdale let his anti-Scientology Web site lapse. He posted less and less on anti-Scientology blogs. Church spokeswoman Pat Harney said it had been months since the church heard from Lonsdale.

Randy Payne, a former Scientologist, said Lonsdale found it impossible to be a full-time church critic and make a living.

Payne said that he last spoke to Lonsdale two months ago, and that Lonsdale had found steady work on the night shift at a local company, stocking shelves. He talked about going back to school and getting a private investigator's license.

"He was getting on with his life," Payne said. "He had every reason to live."

Landlord Joe Critchley said Lonsdale was an ideal tenant: He paid the $650 rent on time every month and he kept the place clean. The last time they talked, Feb. 1 or Feb. 2, Lonsdale seemed fine. "He would be one of the last people I would expect to commit suicide," Critchley said. "But you never know."

Quelle

Ist schon ne echt knuffige Sprache. KAWAAAIIIIIII ^_^



現在、皆さんの中にはアノニマスとは何か、我々がどうしてこのような行動を起こしてい るのか、明確に理解していない人が多いように思われます。

メディアの思い込みとは違い、アノニマスとは単なるハッカーのグループの事ではありま せん。

我々アノニマスは、正しいことをしなければいけない、暗闇に光をもたらさなければいけ ない、そして長い間眠ってきた大衆の目を開かなければいけない、という認識を持った個 人の集団です。

我々の中には、弁護士、親、ＩＴ専門家、警察職員、大学生、獣医など、あらゆる職業や 年代の人々がいます。

アノニマスとは全ての人です。そして我々はどこにでもいます。

我々にはリーダーはおろか全体を指揮する者などいません。我々個人の激しい怒りのみが 我々の行動を指揮しているのです。

我々はあなた方にサイエントロジーがどれほど危険なものであるのかを伝えたいのです。

このカルトによって人権侵害が犯されたことを知ってください。

リサ・マクファーソンのことを知ってください。

サイエントロジーの持つ海軍、シーオーグの元メンバー達が軍で勤務を続けるために強制 的に中絶を受けさせられたということを知ってください。

サイエントロジーが児童を就労させ、強制収用していたことを知ってください。

「オペレーション・フリークアウト」、そしてポレット・クーパーのことを知ってくださ い。

「オペレーション・スノーホワイト」、そしてサイエントロジーが米国政府への潜入に取 り組んでいることを知ってください。

我々はこれら全ての真実が、長い間闇に葬られていたという事実を知ってもらいたいので す。

情報はそこにあります。

情報はあなたの思うがままです。

知識で武装してください。

3月15日に警戒してください。

我々アノニマスは、この団結した運動への参加を呼びかけます。

自由の旗の下、言論の自由、人権、そして家族を守るために、一緒に戦いましょう。

アノニマスと一緒に、抵抗手段として、世界中のサイエントロジー教会の前に集まってく ださい。

我々はアノニマスです。

我々は大群です。

許しはしない。

忘れはしない。

我々の発言力は高まるでしょう。

我々を待ち受けなさい。

Alle die sich bei Protesten beteiligen wollen könnte mal HIER reingucken.

Berlin (Post-Raid)
Berlin 15.03
Düsseldorf 15.03

Desweiteren sind wohl wieder Sachen in Stuttgart und Hamburg geplant.

The Internet group Anonymous today held protests critical of the Church of Scientology. The protests marked what would have been the 49th birthday of Lisa McPherson, who is claimed to be a victim of the Church of Scientology's practices. Lisa died in 1995 during a running of what Scientologists refer to as an Introspection Rundown, a procedure intended to help Church members deal with a psychotic or deeply traumatic event.

Protests were planned throughout the day in 14 countries and over 50 different cities. The estimation of total protesters world wide for Feb. 10, 2008 is 9,250 people.

Wikinews had correspondents at a number of protest locations to report on the events. This article was updated throughout the day with reports from around the globe.


London, England
Plymouth, England
Manchester, England
Edinburgh, Scotland
Boston, Massachusetts
Brussels, Belgium
Buffalo, New York, USA
New York City, New York, USA
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Toronto, Canada
Winnipeg, Canada
Los Angeles, California, USA
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Adelaide, Australia
Brisbane, Australia
Melbourne, Australia
Sydney, Australia
Phoenix, Arizona
Honolulu, Hawaii
Houston, Texas, USA
Dallas, Texas, USA
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Vienna, Austria
Portland, Oregon
Seattle, Washington
San Diego, California
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Clearwater, Florida
The Internet
Other locations

Phuuuu, das wars erstmal... Besonders toll ist folgende Tatsache The protest was delayed by 30 minutes so the protesters would not interrupt a Presbyterian Church service. ;-)

Update:
3 Scientologists in different locations were arrested for attacking the protesters.

At one protest 2 People got hit when the engine panel on a bus snapped open and smacked them (It had been windy in that location which caused it to snap open)

the CO$ in Georgia called out the Riot police, who spent 3 hours standing there in their face masks.

1 Person showed up in Tokyo, all by himself, 4 protesters showed up in Tel Aviv.

There were Freezoners at the London Protests, some of the live feeds had anons chatting with them.