alt.religion.scientology
The
Creation of the newsgroup
On July 17, 1991,[1] the alt.religion.scientology newsgroup was created by Scientology critic Scott Charles Goehring after a discussion with his then girlfriend and a third party. Goehring describes starting the newsgroup "because I felt Usenet needed a place to disseminate the truth about this half-assed religion" and in part as a joke.[2][3]: 306
Attempts to delete the group
In 1991, Scientology lawyers tried to get a.r.s. removed from the internet.
We request that you remove the alt.religion.scientology newsgroup from your site. The reasons for requesting its removal are: (1) It was started with a forged message; (2) not discussed on alt.config; (3) it has the name "scientology" in its title which is a trademark and is misleading, as a.r.s. is mainly used for flamers to attack the Scientology religion; (4) it has been and continues to be heavily abused with copyright and trade secret violations and serves no purpose other than condoning these illegal practices.
This message was largely ignored (and openly protested) by system administrators who carried the newsgroup.
Rogue cancels and flooding
Articles posted to Usenet can be canceled by a
Activity
In 2006 Alt.religion.scientology was one of the more popular newsgroups on Usenet, averaging three to four hundred messages per day.[citation needed] The total number of readers is unknown, but Google reports over 8,800 subscribers to the newsgroup through Google Groups.[citation needed][10]
Critics of Scientology claim that Scientologists are forbidden from reading or accessing the newsgroup. As evidence, they point to the software package sometimes dubbed "Scieno Sitter" by critics. This software package, described as an "Internet filter", was part of a "Web starter kit" distributed by the Church. The stated purpose of the starter kit was to make it as easy as possible for Scientologists to create personal websites (hosted by the Church) promoting Scientology. The Church did not disclose the other purpose of the starter kit: the "Scieno Sitter" program blocks users from accessing the newsgroup alt.religion.scientology, as well as many Web sites containing information critical of Scientology, and references to the names of many vocal critics of the organization. If terms matching the software's list of forbidden words appear, the software may blank them from a web page, kick the user from the chatroom where the words appeared, or even shut down their browser altogether.[11][12]
See also
- Scieno Sitter
- Sporgery, common Usenet phenomenon named by an a.r.s. regular
Notes
- ^ official logs from the Internet Software Consortium
- ^ Wired Magazine 1995:3.12
- ^ .
- ^ Newsday, October 10, 1995
- ^ ISBN 0-8147-3103-1. Retrieved 11 June 2006.
- ^
Helena Kobrin (January 12, 1995). "cmsg rmgroup alt.religion.scientology". Usenet: [email protected].
- ^ Swamp Ratte (June 4, 1995). "A statement from Cult of the Dead Cow". Archived from the original on March 16, 2006.
- ^ Prendergast, Alan (October 4, 1995). "Hunting rabbits, serving spam: The net under siege". Denver Westword News. Village Voice Media. Archived from the original on March 15, 2008. Retrieved February 1, 2008.
- ^ Jones, Colman (July 4, 1996). "Freedom Flames Out on the 'Net". NOW Magazine. Archived from the original on January 29, 2008. Retrieved February 1, 2008.
- ^ "Google Groups". groups.google.com.
- ^ Brown, Janelle (July 15, 1998). "A Web of their own". Salon. Archived from the original on October 15, 2015.
- ^ Ortega, Tony (Sept. 9, 2001). "Sympathy for the Devil". New Times Los Angeles.
References
- Article, The Net: Copyright Or 'Free Press' by Thomas Maier, October 10, 1995.
- Article, Wendy M. Grossman (December 1995). "alt.scientology.war". Wired magazine 3.12. Wired. Archivedfrom the original on February 8, 2007. Retrieved March 20, 2007.