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-
- Computer underground Digest Sun Sept 24, 1995 Volume 7 : Issue 76
- ISSN 1004-042X
-
- Editors: Jim Thomas and Gordon Meyer (TK0JUT2@MVS.CSO.NIU.EDU
- Archivist: Brendan Kehoe
- Shadow Master: Stanton McCandlish
- Field Agent Extraordinaire: David Smith
- Shadow-Archivists: Dan Carosone / Paul Southworth
- Ralph Sims / Jyrki Kuoppala
- Ian Dickinson
- Cu Digest Homepage: http://www.soci.niu.edu/~cudigest
-
- CONTENTS, #7.76 (Sun, Sept 24, 1995)
-
- File 1--**Biased Journalism** #3 /Lerma Hearing (fwd)
- File 2--Computer Law - New Series
- File 3--Banned Books Online
- File 4--Online Novel Announcement
- File 5--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 19 Apr, 1995)
-
- CuD ADMINISTRATIVE, EDITORIAL, AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION APPEARS IN
- THE CONCLUDING FILE AT THE END OF EACH ISSUE.
-
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Date: Wed, 20 Sep 1995 23:02:55 -0500 (CDT)
- From: David Smith <bladex@BGA.COM>
- Subject: File 1--**Biased Journalism** #3 /Lerma Hearing (fwd)
-
- ---------- Forwarded message ----------
-
- **Biased Journalism** : a net magazine designed to compensate for
- the shortcomings of the professional news media.
-
- Copyright 1995 Shelley Thomson; all rights reserved.
-
- Mail, articles and comment may be directed to <sthomson@netcom.com>.
- Netiquette will be observed with all communication, except for the
- following: harassing or threatening mail will be posted to the
- net immediately.
-
-
- **Biased Journalism** Volume I, issue 3 September 18, 1995
-
- Contents: Slam Dunk for Arnie Lerma; I-NET Clams Up; Plaintiffs Defy The
- Court; Hackers up the ante; Picketing the Church; The California 3-Strikes
- T-Shirt.
-
- Read at your own risk. This is **Biased Journalism**!
-
-
- SLAM DUNK FOR ARNIE LERMA
-
- On Friday, September 15 Judge Leonie Brinkema threw out the
- temporary restraining order against Arnaldo Lerma, vacated the writ of
- seizure and ordered his computer, disks and documents returned to him.
- The Judge will rule later in the week and may throw out the entire case.
- jostp, a net citizen occasionally seen on alt.religion.scientology, was
- present. He gave us an interview to supplement his report. Jost's
- observations (reproduced with permission) and our comments follow; our
- remarks will be set off with brackets, like [-this-].
-
- ----------------
-
-
- Report on the September 15, 1995 hearing in the case of RTC v. Lerma;
- US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria, VA
-
- by Patrick Jost (jostp@netcom.com)
-
- This is based on notes I took; there may be some inaccuracies in the
- spellings of names etc.; if you want to know what "really" happened, get
- the official transcript, this is the best I can do!
-
- Background: I arrived at the courthouse at about 10:00 as I thought there
- was a preliminary hearing. There wasn't, so I sat in the foyer and read.
-
- At about 11:30, I entered the courtroom, and heard the final portion of a
- sentencing hearing in a tax evasion case. I was very impressed with the
- way that Judge Brinkema handled the sentencing.
-
- [-Judge Brinkema is an older woman with long gray hair done up in a bun.
- The Judge wears glasses. She has a stern, authoritative manner of
- speaking.-]
-
- Court was recessed, and I left to get a drink of water. I went back into the
- courtroom, and sat in the back (so I would not distract others with my
- note taking). A woman approached me, and introduced herself as Arnie
- Lerma's mother; she had come out from Georgetown to attend the hearing,
- and Arnie told her I would be there.
-
- [-About 11:15 two female Scientologists arrived. They were witnesses who
- intended to discuss the harm caused by public disclosure of the sacred
- texts, but were not permitted to testify. In response to our query, Jost
- said that the women were well but strangely dressed; it struck Jost as
- unsuitable for the courtroom. Pressed for details, he remarked on
- ribbons and 'funny hairstyles' and 'funny colors.' Too colorful, too
- frilly. It would probably be ok in L.A., he said innocently. [Flames
- to jostp@netcom.com] -]
-
- [-The courtroom is in the former Post Office, an elegant Georgian
- building. The courtroom is lined with wooden pews. Jost and Mrs. Lerma
- sat down together in a pew at the rear, behind the Post lawyers.-] Jost
- continued:
-
- The Scientology "team" was seated at the front: I recognized Warren
- McShane and Earle Cooley.
-
- I am going to try to "report" this as accurately as possible, so I am using
- the following abbreviations for participants:
-
- JB: Judge Brinkema
- EC: Earle Cooley (Scientology lawyer)
- WC: William Cook (Scientology lawyer)
- HK: Helena Kobrin (Scientology lawyer)
- MG: Michael Groh (DGS lawyer)
- RH: R. A. Hager (DGS lawyer)
- JH: Jack Hawkins (Washington Post lawyer)
- CS: Carl Symmes (Washington Post lawyer)
- LL: Lee Levine (Lerma lawyer)
- MS: Michael Sullivan (Lerma lawyer)
- MH: Merrill Hirsh (Lerma lawyer)
-
- When I have to add explanatory remarks, they will be between [square
- brackets.]
-
- Court was called to order at about 1200: JB summarized the contents of
- the hearing:
-
- 1) Plaintiff's motion for TRO against the Post;
- 2) Plaintiff's preliminary motion for injunctive relief;
- 3) Defendant's motion to vacate the seizure
-
- JB stated that she didn't want to spend time revisiting the TRO, would
- allow some time for argument; she also mentioned that there was a lot of
- overlap between the motion for the TRO and motion for preliminary
- injunction, and that there was a lot of redundancy in the paperwork.
-
- EC stated that he was reading today's New York Times, there was a story
- about a case in the US District (Ohio), a decision by Judge Fakins. The case
- is Proctor and Gamble v. Bankers trust. Apparently sealed financial
- information about the sale of derivatives was leaked to Business Week,
- Judge Fakins enjoined publication.
-
- EC said "all I know is what is in the NYT" and noted that the Washington
- Post did not report the story.
-
- EC said that they [Scientology lawyers?] missed a case...Urantia
- Foundation v. Kristin Mahera, dated June 27, 1995 in the US District of
- Arizona. In this case, the Urantia Foundation asserted that neither free
- speech or fair use allowed trademark infringement.
-
- [EC talked about other points that needed to be addressed
- because of the Lerma/Post response]
-
- JB said she did not want to hear Mr. Cooley's feelings on Scientology. She
- said she has already ruled, and was not happy that EC had shifted
- gears/changed focus in his argument.
-
- EC said he had brought witnesses.
-
- JB said she did not want to hear them, but that some limited use might be
- permitted.
-
- EC disagreed, spoke about how the Scientology materials were the
- writings of L. Ron Hubbard and that they had to be used/read/studied on a
- scale of spiritual awareness, that this is an article of faith for
- Scientologists. He said he had affidavits from his witnesses on this.
-
- EC spoke of the offensive nature of comments made about Scientology,
- that they were spiteful. He said "past things" [maybe this is Snow White?]
- were history, that if things were not clean that the Church of Scientology
- would not have been given 501(c) [tax exempt] status.
-
- JB told Mr. Cooley to "tone it down".
-
- EC said that he would not be allowed to see the materials in question, that
- that is how strong the belief is in the need to restrict access.
-
- JB said that she wondered how the actual documents could be compared to
- Mr. Lerma's postings; she also said that if he would not look at them, she
- would not either. She asked him how he could pursue something he had
- not investigated himself.
-
- EC responded by discussing the Fishman case/documents.
-
- JB said she had heard enough, asked to hear from the Washington Post.
-
- CS said that EC had shown nothing new, that the Washington Post had
- not intended to insult [etc.] the Church of Scientology. He said that the
- Post's case could be distinguished from the case discussed in the NYT as
- those documents were sealed.
-
- EC said he wanted the Scientologists [witnesses] to discuss the harm that
- had been done to them. He said he wanted to discuss the contents of Arnie
- Lerma's affidavit. He said the OT8 materials [referring to Jesus Christ as
- a pedophile] are phony, but that the rest are real. He said that what the
- Washington Post had done was repugnant to the Constitution.
-
- LB stated that the notion of free comment was important.
-
- EC disagreed, he mentioned complaints about him to Boston University,
- where he has been on the board for 20 years, he mentioned an insulting
- nickname given to Helena Kobrin on the Internet.
-
- [-We wanted to know this nickname and asked Jost; apparently Cooley did
- not actually mention it. The likely prospect is "the 'ho of babble-on,"
- invented by Grady Ward and widely used on the net.-]
-
- JB said her mind is not changed, she is not convinced, she denied their
- request for a TRO.
-
- EC says he wants to appeal to the 4th circuit, and asked for a stay.
-
- JB said she is leaving her ruling in place, no stay.
-
- [topic is now injunction against Arnie Lerma]
-
- EC said he had Mr. Rinder, the head of OSA here to testify, that he wants
- to call the "public Scientologists" to testify.
-
- LL objected to the witnesses, wants time for discovery. He said EC had
- sent him a letter saying that he [EC] did not know which witnesses would
- be called.
-
- [the two witnesses that were discussed were Warren McShane, head of
- the RTC and Jim Settle of I-NET]
-
- JB said she would not referee attacks.
-
- EC said Mr. Rinder would testify as to what the attacks and exposure
- mean to Scientology. He said that the OSA and Guardian Office are not
- the same thing.
-
- JB told him not to talk about criticism [of Scientology] that criticism is
- part of the doctrine of fair use.
-
- EC said that Arnie Lerma acted as an agent of FACTNET and that the
- documents came from Larry Wollersheim.
-
- JB said an individual gets protection but that verbatim quotation is beyond
- fair use.
-
- LL said that wholesale copying had not taken place, that this could be
- shown by counting the number of pages. He said there were actually very
- few matches between documents seized and allegedly copyrighted
- materials. He said that there is no question that copying [an entire
- document] can be fair use, as is shown in the Sony case.
-
- He cited the Bellmore case, in which an entire letter was quoted and the
- Rothbard case, where the transcript of an entire lecture was used.
-
- He talked about authenticity and reflection of beliefs, and referred to the
- OT8 documents, he said Arnie Lerma posted them to foster discussion.
-
- He said the Supreme Court says accurate quotation is important, referred
- to the case Campbell v. Acock-Rose. He said amount taken is but one of
- four fair use tests, and it is not the exclusive test, but admitted that his
- [Lerma's] situation is not as strong as the Washington Post's.
-
- JB asked about the materials in Colorado [Wollersheim] case.
-
- LL said that they are identical.
-
- LL asked for the same type of order as the Washington Post and Colorado,
- that Arnie Lerma can do fair use quotation and that he wants the
- materials seized from Arnie Lerma to be returned.
-
- EC said that Arnie Lerma is not entitled to this, that he did not engage in
- fair use.
-
- EC said that Arnie Lerma says that the materials [Fishman affidavit and
- attachments] came from Larry Wollersheim, Wollersheim says they did
- not, he thinks conflicted testimony is a big issue.
-
- EC says [he thinks] Larry Wollersheim wanted the materials posted under
- the cover of Arnie Lerma's name. He said various things about
- alt.religion.scientology and fair use, and that he wanted Warren McShane
- to testify.
-
- LL says that Arnie Lerma claims that the materials were sent to him in
- the US mail by an unknown source, and that Larry Wollersheim claims they
- came from the FACTNET archive.
-
- LL said that there is no such thing as "fair use of a trade secret" in
- Virginia and that the case CBS v. Davis denies exactly what the plaintiffs
- want, a preliminary injunction on a trade secret matter.
-
- He objected to McShane's testimony, said he [McShane] had already
- submitted a declaration and had been deposed for 1.5 days. He said that
- they had received McShane's materials [some sort of charts?] at 10:00 in
- the morning, had not had time to go through them.
-
- EC said everything was provided in a timely manner.
-
- JB says she wanted to look at the materials [a thick black binder].
-
- EC says it needs to be sealed because it contains the writings of L. Ron
- Hubbard.
-
- JB said she saw copies of handwriting on one side, typing on another, the
- typing is supposedly from Arnie Lerma's computer.
-
- LL/EC argued about who had asked for and seen what [issue is that Arnie
- Lerma's lawyers claim to have asked for details on infringement, they
- claim what Scientology's lawyers provided was inadequate; Scientology's
- lawyers claim the opposite].
-
- JB called for a recess to examine the documents, and asked LL and EC to
- show what had been requested and provided.
-
- [during the recess, Helena Kobrin arrived] [-wearing a bright blue suit-]
-
- [-Lots of things happened during the recess. Jost got up to take a
- break. On the way back he noticed two Scientologists applying the
- OT Death Stare to himself and Mrs. Lerma. "They were trying to bogart
- us but it didn't work," he explained. (Bogart is a term used in law
- enforcement.) A brief bogart contest ensued, which Jost won without
- difficulty. Although he does not believe in entheta, the idea that
- someone might be deliberately trying to beam it at him made Jost very
- annoyed. He scowled at the Scientologist, who dropped his eyes.
- Then Jost noticed that the other Scientologist, a woman, was still
- Staring. "I made a silly face." She quickly looked away.-]
-
- [-Mrs. Lerma never noticed the Death Stare. "That doesn't work on me,"
- she said. She noticed some Scientologists in the audience, including
- some familiar faces from the September 9 demonstration. Like Jost,
- she said the Scientologists stood out by their expressions and body
- language. Beyond the various lawyers and a few Scientologists, the
- hearing was attended by a group of students from Georgetown Law
- School.-]
-
- After the recess--
-
- JB asked what answer was received.
-
- LL said they received some printouts with no explanatory information,
- that they wrote a letter asking for an explanation. They did not get one,
- they wrote another letter [deadline was approaching]. As their materials
- were going out the door, they got an answer that they felt was inadequate.
-
- They said that they got another document at 10:00 today [probably the
- same thing JB went to look at] and that it is contradictory.
-
- JB wanted to know what was wrong with it.
-
- LL says it is deceptive as it does not really show how many documents
- were involved, they can't tell what is going on.
-
- He said that some things previously represented as non-infringing were
- included.
-
- EC says the initial submission was sufficient. He said everything had been
- returned to Arnie Lerma except the infringing materials, and that I-NET
- had been replaced.
-
- MH said that only the "C" hard drive had been returned, and that they are
- keeping more than they say, that they have his [Lerma's] "D" drive as well.
-
- JB says it looks like most of OT3 is quoted but is confused by the lack of
- context, says that Arnie Lerma's situation is not the same as the
- Washington Post's.
-
- LL says that the Fishman exhibits are extracts from Scientology
- documents, but that some of the Scientology documents are very long.
- Some of them [he mentioned OT2 and OT3] are 200-300 pages long, and
- that Arnie Lerma did not post the entire documents.
-
- LL discussed the four factors in fair use, one of them is public debate,
- said that the Internet is a forum for public debate.
-
- LL says injunctive relief is not the way to go, that the 9th circuit has
- ruled that OT1-3 are widely available. He also talked about Scientology's
- misuse of court orders and says that Arnie Lerma is willing to accept a
- decision like that in the Colorado/Washington Post cases.
-
- EC says the only issue is infringement, he does not like the Internet issue
- and that he wants Warren McShane to talk.
-
- JB asked why "only" the copyrighted stuff couldn't be copied?
-
- EC says it is sanitizing, that it could be done.
-
- JB says she has to balance things:
-
- She is concerned about the scope of the seizure, that the
- only materials at issue are copyrighted documents, not
- names, addresses, business correspondence, etc.
-
- She is concerned about the volume of verbatim duplication
- in Arnie Lerma's postings.
-
- JB says she'll take it under advisement for a week, will look through
- Cooley's presentation.
-
- [topic is now motion to vacate writ of seizure]
-
- MS says they were asked [in a previous hearing?] to review search, see if
- it was successive. He talked about how "broad" a search was that used
- "Hubbard" as a search term. He said a very broad search was conducted by
- Jim Settle, that 2/3 more stuff was reviewed than copied.
-
- MS said that Warren McShane would "scroll through" messages when a
- hit was found, and that they [Lerma defense team] will never know what
- exactly was done. They say that Cooley called in Moxon, a Scientology
- lawyer qualified/permitted to look at the materials. He mentioned that
- McShane identified OT8 as an infringement in his deposition.
-
- MS says Moxon says he doesn't know which documents are which.
-
- MS says they are shooting at a moving target.
-
- MS says many of the disks retained do not contain any of the search terms.
-
- [search terms were THETAN-OT COURSE-HUBBARD]
-
- [MS says] JB told them not to continue searching on August 25th, she said
- the search and seizure was dirty, that they conducted an exploratory
- search, possibly violating Arnie Lerma's 4th amendment rights.
-
- WC is going to talk about the searches...
-
- JB asked what other words were searched for.
-
- WC talked about the "3 word" search as done by I-NET and McShane, but
- that additional searches were done, but not after they were told not to do
- any more.
-
- JB says she only remembers authorizing a search for the three words.
-
- WC talked about doing "directory searches" [not sure what this means].
-
- JB said a "search for evidence" was not authorized.
-
- WC said they tried to comply.
-
- JB said it was her understanding in ex parte discussions of how the search
- was to be done that I-NET was to be the reviewing authority.
-
- [a clerk of the court read from a document-maybe from another hearing-
- about the terms of this search]
-
- JB said that the search that had been done was not clean.
-
- WC talked about having Moxon look at stuff, said that Settle was not
- allowed to explain what searches were done and how they were done.
-
- EC said it was no one's intent to use any other material. He said Settle
- mentioned the [additional?] search but not the search terms. He talked
- about the lack of sufficiency of the initial search terms.
-
- JB [gives ruling] is concerned about how the seizure was conducted. She
- talked about 4th amendment rights. She says ex parte arrangements must
- be done in good faith, that the search should have been narrow. She says it
- was not conduced in the spirit intended.
-
- [-"I feel deceived," the Judge said.-]
-
- JB said things got out of control, she is concerned about the Church of
- Scientology's "lack of clean hands" in the matter.
-
- JB does not give the preliminary injunction, vacates the seizure, says that
- Arnie Lerma may only quote for "fair use" (as in W. Post/Colorado).
-
- EC asked for a stay.
-
- JB said no, that the 4th circuit is still open.
-
- HK said she was concerned about representations of things not done in
- good faith, that things were done in good faith.
-
- JB said she had ruled, that Helena Kobrin's remarks had been recorded.
-
- [court adjourns]
-
- LL says that the request was made in two places, in the declaration of
- Merill Hirsh, August 30 1995, asking for a parallel analysis. [-This
- line is a mystery to us. Perhaps it should go earlier in the notes.-]
-
- epilog:
-
- [-The day was still young. Jost decided to bullbait Jim Settle,
- former FBI agent and Director of Information Security for I-NET.]
-
- PJ: Patrick Jost (author of this document)
- WM: Warren McShane (RTC)
- JS: Jim Settle (I-NET)
- GL: Gora Lerma (Arnie Lerma's mother)
-
- PJ said [to McShane, as he exited the courtroom] that he [McShane] should
- get another computer guru.
-
- PJ said he could have done a much better job than I-NET did on the disk
- search.
-
- [I said this because it was obvious that they were having trouble doing a
- simple keyword search]
-
- WM asked Patrick Jost who he was, and if he really thought he could have
- done a better job.
-
- PJ replied I'm me [this is basically what one of the Scientologists present
- at the raid on Arnie Lerma's house said].
-
- WM asked why Patrick Jost would not identify himself.
-
- PJ replied "I'm Patrick Jost...jostp@netcom.com".
-
- WM indicated that he knew who that was. [-tried to be intimidating-]
-
- PJ said he knew who Warren McShane was. [-not having any-]
-
- JS interjected saying something like "I did the search, talk to
- me". [-woof!-]
-
- PJ said you did a bad job on the search, and you should not have taken the
- job anyway, you have a moral responsibility...
-
- JS interrupted saying that they [I-NET] had raised issues, but that he
- [Settle] had not been allowed to speak.
-
- PJ asked what would Ken Bajaj [I-NET management] think about this?
-
- JS replied if all you know is what's on the Internet, you don't know it all.
-
- PJ said "you don't know what I know".
-
- WC [Scientology lawyer] tried to get Jim Settle to leave...
-
- GL [partial, to Helena Kobrin] You were at my son's house...
-
- [there was dialogue between GL and HK but I did not hear it]
-
- HK said I'm not going to talk [after this, Helena Kobrin left very quickly]
-
- WC told Jim Settle they had to go [they left]
-
- [end of Jost report]
-
- [-We wanted to know what Mrs. Lerma had said to Helena Kobrin. "She was
- mad as hell, and disappointed," Mrs. Lerma related. "I told her that the
- Scientology church was finished." "Eight million members and we're
- finished?" Kobrin retorted. GL: "What, the people you send literature to?
- Do you know what they do with that literature? They throw it away."
- Giving up on the argument, Kobrin stalked off.-]
-
- [-Jost and Mrs. Lerma agreed that things had gone badly for the
- Church from the start. "Every time Cooley opened his mouth he put his
- foot in it," Mrs. Lerma said. She was amazed that he told the Judge he
- didn't know what the material was. "Cooley did badly from the beginning,"
- Jost declared. Jost and Mrs. Lerma watched in fascination as the Judge
- laid into the Church lawyers for conducting a dirty search, exceeding the
- scope of the order, and negotiating in bad faith. These remarks (precise
- wording available from the transcript) are strong language for a judge.
- There is no doubt that this was a Very Bad Day for the Church lawyers.-]
-
- Then everyone went home--
-
- [-We asked Jost whether anyone was followed. He said he doubted it. When
- he went to retrieve his car he noticed Jim Settle there getting in his
- (Settle's) car, but there aren't very many places to park around the
- courthouse, Jost explained. It was probably a coincidence.-]
-
- Judge Brinkema is expected to issue more rulings this week. We will
- report them.
-
-
- I-NET REFUSES INTERVIEW
-
- **Biased Journalism** approached I-NET in early September for an
- interview. For new readers, I-NET is the computer company hired by the
- Religious TechnoloIgy Corporation (RTC) on behalf of the Church of
- Scientology to search Arnie Lerma's computer and copy and delete files
- from his hard drives. I-NET personnel were present at the raid on
- the Lerma residence.
-
- We telephoned the company and asked for the president, Ken Bajaj.
- We were connected with his secretary, a friendly and helpful woman, and
- explained our purpose. She was taken aback by the concept of a news
- magazine published solely on the Internet. She suggested that we call
- back in a few minutes to talk to Mr. Bajaj, and we did. We were not
- allowed to talk with him, however; instead we were asked to send
- some written material.
-
- We assumed she meant prior issues of **Biased Journalism**,
- and wanted to send them via email, but were told that I-NET has no
- email address. We quickly dispatched a snail package.
-
- A week later we called again. *The vibe had changed.* The
- secretary, now sounding distinctly frightened, said that the interview had
- been refused but declined to say anything further. She offered to connect
- us with the legal department. We agreed, hoping at least to find out why
- they did not want to talk to us, but were first disconnected and then told
- that everyone was in a conference. We left our number, but no one called
- us back.
-
- I-NET has clammed up.
-
- Bereft of news, we suborned a mouse in the I-NET conference
- room. The mouse alleged as follows: our contact was promptly reported
- to the I-NET department handling c of s matters. The client's lawyers
- were asked whether they minded if I-NET gave an interview. The lawyers
- responded that they certainly did mind; and furthermore, additional
- legal actions were under consideration which could involve **Biased
- Journalism**.
-
- We were nonplussed. Could this mouse be telling the truth?
- We could not imagine a genuine basis for legal action; on the other
- hand, events have happened in the last few months that surpassed our
- fantasies. We wondered whether I-Net expects a lot of future
- business from the Church. (The mouse averred that this was so.)
- Shall I-NET someday be searching **our** computer? We experienced a
- premonitory chill.
-
- Important questions remain unanswered. Why was I-NET selected
- to interrogate Lerma's computer? How did the Church learn of the company
- and why did they decide that I-NET could be trusted? Was there, for
- instance, a Bajaj family tie to the Church?
-
- What, precisely, did I-NET do to Lerma's computer? Did I-NET
- play a role in the other raids conducted by the Church? Was I-NET
- involved in the attempt to break Lawrence Wollersheim's pgp-encrypted
- files? Does I-NET expect <cough> a lot of future business from the
- Church?
-
- [We were surprised as well as disappointed to be refused an
- interview. To our knowlege **Biased Journalism** is the only net.zine
- to have made a specialty of covering the c of s confrontation with the
- internet. We anticipated that Mr. Bajaj would want the opportunity
- to explain his company's actions to the citizens of cyberspace and
- quash some of the rumors current on the net. His silence invites
- speculation, which is Not Our Fault.]
-
- To be continued--
-
-
- PLAINTIFFS DEFY THE COURT, OR, WHERE IS ARNIE LERMA'S COMPUTER?
-
- As most readers know, the Church of Scientology [represented by Religious
- Technology Corp.] and I-NET Corporation have had possession of Arnaldo
- Lerma's computer since it was seized on August 12. Judge Brinkema ordered
- the computer returned to Lerma. On September 7 he was finally invited to
- pick it up. He went to the offices of his attorneys.
-
- Here is what he found...
-
- He was given a large box of floppy disks. He fished in the box and
- discovered that they represented only 1/2 to 1/3 of his disks, mostly
- commercial material. A 540 meg hard drive which had been part of his
- business inventory was returned, together with a very old scsi drive
- which I-NET had been unable to read. He had expected to find his own
- computer, pursuant to Judge Brinkema's order. It was not there.
- Instead he was offered a 386 with an I-NET sticker on the back and a hard
- drive labeled "duplicate Lerma C Drive 8/21." Lerma refused to accept the
- 386, but removed the hard drive and took it with him.
-
- Lerma left his 20" monitor at Ross Dixon because Plaintiffs did not return
- its cable with the BNC ends. He also left his scanner because the scsi
- interface was missing. Were these omissions accidental? [Lerma declined
- to speculate. He was not pleased, our informant said with meaningful
- understatement.]
-
- Arnie Lerma's 486 computer, two hard drives and the missing cables and
- interface remain in the hands of third parties and under the control of
- the Plaintiffs.
-
- The next move belongs to the Judge.
-
-
- HACKERS UP THE ANTE
-
- Sunday August 20: irc talk (vertabim as told to us)
-
- "...tonight some drunk and pissed off hackers apparently
- ping'd Cof$'s Theta.com node into oblivion, that is
- set up multiple ping bots to shutdown the server.
-
- <deleted> Hey all I see you're point...but honestly the
- hackers have VOTED..
- +the process is out, themachine is running, it isOUT of my hands. We met,
- +we talked, we discussed, we exchanged, we thought, we asked, we tasked,
- +and we did. The site went down.
-
- God bless the Internet"
-
-
- ANNOUNCING: THE CALIFORNIA 3-STRIKES T-SHIRT
-
- Inspired by the success of the international arms dealer t-shirt,
- of which more than 500 have been sold, **Biased Journalism** proposes
- the California 3 Strikes T-Shirt. On this shirt will be depicted:
- (1) the piece of RSA code that qualifies the wearer as an international
- arms dealer and terrorist; (2) the FIJA handout, from the Fully Informed
- Jury Association, that informs the reader of the real rights and powers of
- juries in our legal system. This FIJA information was deemed so dangerous
- that persons distributing FIJA leaflets have been prosecuted for "jury
- tampering!" And finally, (3) the shirt will display the famous six lines
- of text referring to visiting the zoo that qualify the wearer as
- a member of the worldwide conspiracy to steal and distribute copyrighted
- and trade secret information on the Internet.
-
- Can you go to prison for life simply for wearing a t-shirt? In
- the State of California, the answer is yes. Buy one and find out if they
- really mean it. For best results, wear in a major city near the courthouse.
- Try to stand in front of Scientology orgs and/or restaurants frequented by
- foreign nationals.
-
- $25+postage. Vendor inquiries invited.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 11:27:44 -0400
- From: Galkin@AOL.COM
- Subject: File 2--Computer Law - New Series
-
- *************************************************
- THE COMPUTER LAW REPORT ANNOUNCES NEW SERIES
- *************************************************
-
- The Computer Law Report - the FREE monthly e-mail report for
- nonlawyers - is beginning an important series on the recently released
- Clinton Administration White Paper. The White Paper analyzes how
- intellectual property law applies to cyberspace and makes legislative
- recommendations to Congress for revising laws for the digital age.
-
- The Computer Law Report is prepared by William S. Galkin, Esq.,
- adjunct professor of computer law Univ of Maryland Law School.
-
- To be put on distribution list send e-mail to: galkin@aol.com
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Fri, 22 Sep 1995 01:18:13 CDT
- Date: 10 Sep 1995 12:35:10 GMT
- From: okeefe@OLYMPUS.NET(Steve O'Keefe)
- Subject: File 3--Banned Books Online
-
- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
- Book Stacks Unleashes Banned Books Exhibit
-
- Book Stacks Unlimited, the most popular bookstore on the Internet, today
- unveiled plans for an unsettling exhibit dealing with book censorship. The
- exhibit, located at http://www.banned.books.com, debuts September 23 as
- part of the American Booksellers Association Banned Books Week.
-
- "The Internet is under attack by people who want to suppress your freedom
- of speech," says Book Stacks' founder and president, Charles Stack. "This
- exhibit demonstrates how dangerous the threat is. You'd be amazed at what
- some people want to keep you from reading."
-
- The exhibit features several digital audio clips: Salman Rushdie reading
- from his book, *East, West*; U.S. Senate debate over the Exon Amendment;
- and a rant from author and public radio & TV commentator Andrei Codrescu
- commissioned by Book Stacks for the exhibit.
-
- Other displays include a list of banned books, a quiz, a civil liberties
- bookshelf, a directory of links to anti-censorship resources, frightening
- and courageous quotations, a forum on book banning, and much more. One
- section is devoted to the Canter & Siegel affair. After the notorious
- "Green Card Lawyers" abused the net, several people called for a ban on
- their book.
-
- Book Stacks Unlimited (books.com) has been selling books online since 1992.
- They offer more than 330,000 titles for sale and gigabytes of
- entertainment. They are frequently included in Internet "top ten" lists and
- are the only bookstore in the Internet Hall of Fame. Book Stacks is a
- member of the American Booksellers Association.
-
- The Banned Books exhibit will not be open to the public until September 23.
- For a sneak preview, please contact Camille Tillman at (216) 861-0467 or
- via e-mail at <cheritag@books.com>.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Mon, 4 Sep 1995 14:20:56 -0700
- From: Pilgrim@EWORLD.COM
- Subject: File 4--Online Novel Announcement
-
- Dear Editor,
-
- Pilgrim Press is happy to announce the publication of its first online
- serial, IN SOME UNRELATED LAND, a novel with art on the World Wide Web.
-
- http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/~mang/title.html
-
- While IN SOME UNRELATED LAND may not be the first novel published on the Web,
- we believe it stands out for its literary quality. First and foremost, this
- is a good read. The novel takes advantage of the medium by using graphic
- images and hyperlinks, but they are secondary to the prose.
-
- We hope you will read IN SOME UNRELATED LAND, tell your friends about it,
- include it on your "hot links pages," and review it.
-
- Attached is our press release. If you would like more information or sample
- pages, please contact Mona Mang at pilgrim@eworld.com.
-
- Yours,
-
- Mona Mang
- ____________________________________________
-
-
- NEWS from Pilgrim Press
-
- For Immediate Release
- September 4, 1995
-
- Pilgrim Press announces the publication of its first online serial, IN SOME
- UNRELATED LAND, a novel with art on the World Wide Web written by Martha
- Conway.
-
- http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/~mang/title.html
-
-
- IN SOME UNRELATED LAND is Berkeley, California, where twenty two year old
- Jane Brandt moves after her parents die in an accident. With few friends and
- no money, Jane tries to set up a new life: she gets a trial job working for a
- new-age publisher in his basement, moves into a communal house, and divides
- her wages among rent, beer, and drugs. IN SOME UNRELATED LAND chronicles one
- summer in Jane's life, a time of unusual liaisons and hand-to-mouth living --
- it is the freefall of someone waiting for "real" life to begin.
-
- The novel will be published in nine parts on the World Wide Web. Each part
- is divided into 7-10 short linked files, with art incorporated into the text.
- IN SOME UNRELATED LAND is complete, and will be published over the next
- twelve weeks.
-
- PUBLISHING SCHEDULE:
- Sept. 4 I get a job
- Sept. 15 Drugs
- Sept. 29 I learn more about many things
- Oct. 6 Day rides and night rides
- Oct. 13 The cat dies
- Oct. 20 And I escape to New York
- Oct. 27 Lucy and Henry
- Nov. 3 After the Met
- Nov. 10 Home
-
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
- Martha Conway is a published writer and book reviewer living in the San
- Francisco Bay Area. Her work has appeared in The Quarterly, The Carolina
- Quarterly, Puerto del Sol, Folio, Enterzone, Mississippi Review Web, and
- other publications. She is currently working on her next novel.
-
- This novel is being published on the shareware model, but if you are
- interested in a free review copy, please contact Mona Mang at
- pilgrim@eworld.com.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Sun, 19 Apr 1995 22:51:01 CDT
- From: CuD Moderators <cudigest@sun.soci.niu.edu>
- Subject: File 5--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 19 Apr, 1995)
-
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-
- ------------------------------
-
- End of Computer Underground Digest #7.76
- ************************************
-
-