__ Updata __
__ Caught in the Crossfire __
The debate is familiar: are Internet posters who quote published material engaging in free speech or have they purloined copyrighted intellectual property? In the battle between the Church of Scientology (COS) and the Net, the shrapnel's still flying. As long ago as May 1995, posters on alt.religion.scientology were betting that California Nethead Grady Ward would be the next Church target. On March 21, 1996, those predictions were borne out: the COS filed a lawsuit accusing Ward of anonymously posting a series of texts under the moniker "Scamizdat" - documents containing secrets normally seen by Scientologists only after years of expensive study. The Church also obtained a preliminary injunction, forcing Ward to cease any activity that would violate COS copyright of the materials."
The only thing I really care about is freedom of speech and criticism on the Net," says Ward, who categorically denies the charges. (He was asked by US District Court Judge Ronald Whyte to curb his free speech in court and not call Scientology lawyer Helena Kobrin "Madame Kobrin" as he had been doing online in alt.religion.scientology.)
Keith Henson was the Church's next target. Henson, whose interests in space colonization and cryonics were chronicled in Ed Regis's 1990 book Great Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman Condition: Science Slightly over the Edge, welcomes Scientology's suit against him, saying, "It will increase my status on the Net." Henson has filed a counterclaim for US$500 million in damages.
Even as these new cases are placed on the burner, others continue to simmer: at press time, Dennis Erlich - raided by the COS in February 1995, when, by court order, the Church seized possessions from his home and permanently deleted files from his computer - was still waiting for a ruling from Judge Whyte as to whether the COS documents he posted qualified as trade secrets, given their widespread distribution on the Net. Arnaldo Lerma, whose computer was returned months after an August 1995 raid (with two 1-Gbyte hard disks missing), lost in court this January when US District Court Judge Leonie M. Brinkema issued a summary judgment that Lerma had violated Church copyrights. Eight months later, Brinkema had yet to issue her opinion in writing.
Each of these cases tests the boundaries of intellectual property rights in a digital world; also at issue is the liability of service providers for their users' behavior. Erlich's Usenet newsfeed provider, Netcom, was accused of responsibility for his posts and settled out of court, as did Digital Gateway Systems, Lerma's provider. Netcom simultaneously announced a protocol for handling future intellectual property disputes that involves restricting access to the disputed material pending investigation.
Though the suits have been reported in great detail on the Net, they have not chilled discussion on the newsgroup. Nor has the worst vertical spam in Usenet history. From the end of May to the end of July, an estimated 20,000 messages consisting of brief quotations from Scientology promotional materials were posted to alt.religion.scientology. Posters are forced to pick their way through acres of the stuff to get to the meat of the discussion, where they consider the ramifications of the Netcom settlement, argue about Scientology practices, and, of course, flame each other. The battle rages on.
Wendy M. Grossman
[Original story in *Wired *3.12, page 172.]
__ Soft Pedal __
Spurred by Abwam Inc., a Colorado-based ISP, the Software Publishers Association has leveled a copyright infringement lawsuit against Max Butler, a Seattle surfer who was the apparent ringleader of a band of Internet software pirates.
Abwam, labeled by cyberrustlers as a "friendly site" (one that didn't carefully monitor ftp traffic), noticed a drain on its system and reported to the SPA that netizens were uploading and downloading hefty files from its servers. The SPA may seek as much as US$300,000 from Butler for three copyright infringements."
I believe the Net community must police itself," said Abwam president Darryl Watson regarding Internet copyright infringement. "Anytime Congress attempts to make a law considering technology, they typically fail to provide effective legislation."
Butler, thought to have disappeared, now lives in California; he was served papers in August.
[Original story in *Wired *3.05, page 88.]
__ Holo Hog __
Spacehog's new CD may not seem like anything to get too worked up about. Unless, that is, you're a counterfeiter. The UK-released single sports the hologram of a space-helmeted pig - an addition that not only adds to the Hog mystique, but also makes counterfeiting copies a heap more difficult.
The software industry has used holograms on packaging for many years as a dam against the flood of forged discs from the Far East, but this marks the first time a hologram has been incorporated directly into the storage medium. Such technology is the product of a four-year partnership between CD maker Nimbus Manufacturing in Charlottesville, Virginia, and UK-based Applied Holographics. The holograms can be hidden along the outer perimeter or the inner ring of a CD.
[Original story in *Wired *4.05, page 92.]
__ Torts and Retorts __
Seems the digital industry may not kowtow to E-data anymore. The Secaucus, New Jersey-based company claims it's owed royalties from two-dozen businesses that use certain transaction systems to ply software and other commodities on the Net. The pressure E-data has put on smaller firms to join IBM, Adobe, and others who have paid up and signed licensing agreements has put E-data's motives in question.
David Rose, CEO of Ex Machina, a New York-based wireless company, was intrigued. Acting independently of his role at Ex Machina, Rose emailed a number of people who had been sued by E-data, suggesting the patent (purchased from Charles Freeny, a computer scientist and inventor) might be an instance of "prior art" - a system was already in the public domain years before Freeny's patent was recognized.
E-data dismisses Rose's suggestion as frivolous. "Rose appeared out of nowhere and said this is prior art," grumbles E-data president and CEO Arnold Freilich. "Our attorney looked at his claim and just laughed."
[Original story in *Wired *4.09, page 78.]
