Media clips regarding FACTNet and Free Speech
"The public interest is best served by the free exchange of ideas."
--Judge John Kane, ruling in FACTNet case
"As print and electronic media are the public's chief source of information about trials and that media coverage of legal proceedings contributes to public understanding of the rule of law,...the public interest lies with the unfettered ability...to report on the news."
--Judge Leoni Brinkema, ruling in FACTNet case
"To some of us, preserving the Net for free speech is more important than anything in the free world."
--Ron Newman, netizen
"The Internet is an information age tool that empowers individuals and reduces the need for a large, authoritarian government. It empowers the poor with an unregulated world of entrepreneurial opportunity...Information and the new frontier could create a more fair, peaceful society The free flow of information is central to America's foundation, and '90s technology only enhances it. Unfortunately, it's all a big threat to those in power who rely on the control of information to secure their lofty positions. No matter what they call it, free speech is the issue."
--Wayne Laugesen, "Raiding Free Speech," Boulder Weekly editorial, 8/24/95
"The Church of Scientology is suing cybernauts, the Washington Post, and individual reporters. Is the Church trying to squelch speech through lawsuits?"
--"A religious belief in lawsuits," Washington City Paper, 9/29/95
"Scientology devotes vast resources to squelching its critics. Since 1986 Hubbard and his church have been the subject of four unfriendly books, all released by small yet courageous publishers. In each case, the writers have been badgered and heavily sued. One of Hubbard's policies was that all perceived enemies are 'fair game' and subject to being 'tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed.' Those who criticize the church journalists, doctors, lawyers and even judges often find themselves engulfed in litigation, stalked by private eyes, framed for fictional crimes, beaten up or threatened with death...As long as the organization's opponents and victims are successfully squelched, Scientology's managers and lawyers will keep pocketing millions of dollars by helping it achieve its ends."
--Richard Behar, "Scientology: The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power," Time, 5/6/91
"It is here that [Scientologists in training] learn that they may not interpret, analyse, or discuss any of the writings of L. Ron Hubbard. They must simply study them, and then apply them. NO DISCUSSION of them is permitted at all. Discussion...is called 'Verbal tech', and the penalties for this are outlined..."
---Kim Baker, "Basic Coercive Tactics," 8/28/95
"Many observers agree [Scientology] became its own worst enemy through its censorship attempts."
--"Scientology's Secrets," Internet World, 12/95
"Free speech advocates say the Scientology lawsuits are designed to censor discussion on the Internet, opening up 'netizens' to costly lawsuits over content, and taking away much of its unfettered appeal."
--Thomas Maier, "The Net: Copyright or 'Free Press'?" Newsday, 10/10/95
"If the church's lawsuits prevail...future providers of bulletin boards and newsgroups on the World Wide Web, as well as the companies running such subscriber services as Prodigy, Compuserve, and America Online might be forced to monitor or restrict information simply because they fear being sued...If system operators are liable for the content of the postings, it will lead to censorship...It would change the whole idea of how the Internet develops -- it's that important."
--Shari Steele, attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, as quoted in "The Net: Copyright or 'Free Press'?" Newsday, 10/10/95
"Besides the technological curtailment of free speech, a skirmish like this one has the potential to completely disrupt the online operation not only of individual users, but also of entire networks overloaded by traffic their circuits were never designed to handle."
--Colman Jones, "Freedom Flames Out on the 'Net: Who Launched the Largest-Ever Sabotage of the Internet?" www.now.com/issues/15/44/News/feature.html
"...Other groups could adopt the Scientology strategy to stifle the unfettered, no-holds-barred talk that has characterized the Internet."
--Kevin Coughlin, "Scientology Posts Lead Net Activists to Mull Limiting Cherished Free Speech," New Jersey Star Ledger, 5/31/96
"Other [internet] users have reported mysterious incidents: investigators visiting their neighbors, strangers attempting to get into their telephone records, e-mail sent to their sysadmins asking that their accounts be closed down. How did we get to this, in a free country?... "It turns out that a belief in free speech and an interest in Scientology may involve you in the bitterest battle fought across the Internet to date. A fight that has burst the banks of the Net and into the real world of police, lawyers, and armed search and seizure. Ultimately, however, the drama doesn't matter: the real issues here are the boundaries of free speech and the future of copyright and intellectual property in the face of a technology that can scatter copies across the world in seconds... "Whatever the motives, when computers are seized because they contain allegedly purloined intellectual property, messages are intercepted as they traverse the network, or the security of anonymous remailers is pierced by police, the days of the Internet as a cozy, private, intellectual cocktail party are over. Welcome to real politics."
--Wendy M. Grossman, "alt.scientology.war," Wired, 8/95
A
