Linking Law :: Internet
Scientology v. Internet :: Scientology
Scientology v. Internet :: Response to Critics

Appropriate Action - Helena Kobrin writes that her firm is merely protecting intellectual property rights. [Linux Journal]

Church of Scientology simply defended copyrights - Church of Scientology International Vice President on the Scientology-Google controversy. [The Mercury News]

Church of Scientology Wields the DMCA, Google Removes Xenu.net - The Church of Scientology has abused the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) to get Google to remove a bunch of links. Google caved at once, even though they claim that they do not remove pages. News and reader discussion. [Kuro5hin]

500 Church v. Google, Round 2 - Update on the status of xenu.net. The majority of the pages are still censored, though the front page has been relisted. The Church of Scientology's notification of a DMCA violation is spurious since it claims a trademark infringement not a copyright infringement. [Microcontent News]

500 Church v. Google: How the Church of Scientology is Forcing Google to Censor its Critics - Long article on the popular search engine Google, attempts of webmasters to boost ratings, Scientology's use of copyright law to muzzle critics. Questions raised by Scientology's using the DMCA to remove critics from search engine database. [Microcontent News]

Cult Forces Google to Remove Critical Links - The Church of Scientology is using the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act to remove links to a critical Web site from the Google search engine. By Matt Loney. [ZDNet UK]
Meta Description: [ The Church of Scientology is using the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act to remove links to a critical Web site from the Google search engine ]

404 DMCA Used to Remove Scientology Critics from Google - Google accused of censorship for removing links to a site critical of Scientology from the search engine and its directory. Raises the question of how many other sites may be missing. [InfoAnarchy]

FACTNet: Google, Censorship and Scientology? - Press release from Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network.
Meta Description: [ Is GOOGLE supporting efforts to censor the internet? ]

Google Asked to Delist Scientology Critics - Copy of the letter from Church of Scientology law firm Moxon Kobrin, demanding that Google remove xenu.net.

404 Google Censored by the Church of Scientology and the DMCA - Any yahoo (no pun intended) can now have other people's materials removed from any search tool, just by writing a spurious poison-pen letter. [Boing Boing]
Meta Description: [ A weblog about pop culture ]

404 Google Censors Scientology Critics - The search engine Google is censoring the Internet's leading critic of the Church of Scientology, Operation Clambake. [Daily Rotten]

Google Censors xenu.net? - Google has chosen to block Operation Clambake from their search results. News and reader discussion. [kuro5hin]

404 Google Embroiled in Scientology Debate - Summary and analysis of the Xenu.net removal. [Search Engine Watch]
Meta Description: [ Google found itself accused of censorship last month, after it removed some pages from an anti-Scientology web site in response to a legal request made by the Church of Scientology. ]

Google Makes Scientology Infringement Demand Public - Google has made public the letter it received from Scientology lawyers demanding it remove critical content from its search engine, complete with a list of allegedly infringing URLs. [SearchDay]
Meta Description: [ Google has made public the letter it received from lawyers demanding it remove Scientology related content from its search engine, complete with a list of allegedly infringing URLs. ]

Google Publicizes DMCA Takedowns - Short note about Google linking to DMCA claims from Scientology lawyers, followed by lively discussion. [Slashdot]
Meta Description: [ Google Publicizes DMCA Takedowns -- article related to Your Rights Online and Censorship. ]

Google Pulls Anti-Scientology Links - Google was accused Wednesday of effectively removing from the Internet a Web site that is critical of the Church of Scientology after it deleted links to some of the site's pages from its search engine. By Matt Loney and Evan Hansen. [CNet]
Meta Description: [ Google pulls anti-Scientology links | The popular search service removes links to pages that hold material copyrighted by the Church of Scientology, underscoring potential conflicts between the DMCA and free speech. | March 21, 2002, 11:35 AM PT | Matt Loney | Evan Hansen ]

Google Pulls, Replaces Web Page Critical of Scientology - Article with comments from a Google spokesperson, a Scientology lawyer, and a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. By Elinor Mills Abreu. [Reuters]

Google Relists Operation Clambake - Google only relisted Xenu.net's homepage (where the copyright claims by Scientology were clearly bogus), not the rest of the pages listed in Scientology's DMCA complaint. News and reader discussion. [Slashdot]
Meta Description: [ Google Relists Operation Clambake -- article related to Your Rights Online and Censorship. ]

404 Google removes anti-Scientology Web links - The Church of Scientology threatened legal action under the DMCA against Google unless the search engine removed sites critical of Scientology. [CBC News]

Google Removes DMCA Offenders; Anti-Scientology Sites the Latest - Google's swift removal of anti-Scientology sites is only a tip of the iceberg. Search engines cannot be trusted as long as the DMCA forces providers to cut off materials on a mere allegation, under threat of legal action. [Geek.com]
Meta Description: [ Geek.com Geek News - Google removes DMCA offenders; anti-Scientology sites the latest, the online technology resource for geeks ]

Google Runs Into Copyright Dispute - Summarizes the course of events in Scientology's efforts to remove links to critics' sites from Google, and the search engine's response of providing the DMCA complaints (and links) to another site for publication. Requires free registration. [New York Times]

Google vs. DMCA and Scientology - Discussion of a New York Times story on the Church of Scientology's DMCA complaints and Google's response. [Slashdot]
Meta Description: [ Google vs. DMCA and Scientology -- article related to Censorship. ]

Google Yanks Anti-Church Sites - The Church of Scientology has managed to remove references to anti-Scientology sites from Google, by citing the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act. [Wired]
Meta Description: [ Get in-depth politics and legal news coverage including online privacy, Internet security, government regulations, censorship and free speech from Wired.com. ]

Hazards of the DMCA - Dave Winer writes that Google's banning of a site critical of Scientology is the first scene in a Constitutional nightmare. The DMCA threatens freedom of speech. [CNET News.com]
Meta Description: [ Hazards of the DMCA | UserLand Software CEO Dave Winer writes that muddled thinking about technology by government policy-makers has produced the first real demo of a nightmarish scenario. | March 22, 2002, 12:00 PM PT | Dave Winer ]

MetaFilter Comments - News brief misascribing cause of removal to googlebombing, and ensuing reader discussion.

Scientologists Gag Google - Web search outfit Google has caved in to demands from the 'Church' of Scientology demanding that it delete URLs from its database directing Web surfers to certain pages maintained by Xenu.net, a well-known CoS critic. [The Register]

Scientology Complaint to Google #2 - Letter to Google from Church of Scientology, demands the removal of clambake.org, a mirror of Operation Clambake.

Scientology Complaint to Google #3 - Religious Technology Center (Church of Scientology) tells Google to yank a Norwegian personal page.

Scientology Complaint to Google #4 - Religious Technology Center and Bridge Publications demand, on behalf of the Church of Scientology, that Google delete posts from its Usenet archive of alt.religion.scientology. Text of DMCA complaint.

Scientology Uses DMCA to Delist Critic's Website - The Church of Scientology used the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to strong-arm search engine Google into removing several pages of an anti-Scientology site from search results and directory. [Slashdot]
Meta Description: [ Scientology Uses DMCA to Delist Critic's Website -- article related to News and Your Rights Online. ]

The Google Way - Examines Google's response to Scientology's DMCA claims. Quotes lawyers for Google, the Church of Scientology, Ask Jeeves, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. [Corporate Counsel]