When computers are seized because they contain allegedly stolen intellectual property, and police pierce the security anonymous remailers,the days of the Net as a cozy, cocktail party are over. Welcome to a flame war with real bullets. When computers are seized because they contain allegedly stolen intellectual property, or the security of anonymous remailers is pierced by police, alt.scientology.war the days of the Internet as a cozy, private, intellectual cocktail party are over. Welcome to mortal combat between two alien cultures ...

AN Adelaide journalist was yesterday cleared of theft charges in a London court case billed as the battle of the hidden cameras. The Church of Scientology in London used hidden cameras to try to entrap Alison Braund while she was using a hidden camera in the church while working undercover, the City of London Magistrates' Court heard. Ms Braund was preparing an investigative report for a British television company. Chairman of the bench, Hinda Style, said there had been an abuse ...

A NEW pressure group calling for government action to raise public awareness of cults has come under fire from the Church of Scientology. Founders of Families Under Scientology Stress (Fuss) say that in the few weeks it has been formed it has been amazed at how many people have come forward from all parts of the country pledging support. A group spokesman said: "Most of our supporters have been through difficulties of having a family member in Scientology and it is ...

The group is unhappy that Clearwater has not resolved a dispute over legal fees in a successful fight against the city. CLEARWATER — Mayor Rita Garvey, City Commissioner Fred Thomas and others are singled out for criticism in the latest edition of Freedom, a tabloid newspaper published periodically by the Church of Scientology. The organization is delivering the 12-page publication this week to about 100,000 residences in Clearwater, Largo, Dunedin and Palm Harbor. The new edition also criticizes the ''St. Petersburg ...

The following message was posted on the Internet. The author, Lawrence Wollersheim recently won a $4 million judgment against the Church of Scientology. The church is extremely concerned about the numerous defections and a number of successful lawsuits and criminal proceedings against it, particularly in Europe. Subject: Emergency message to Internet users interested In protecting the freedom of information in the Internet. From Lawrence Wollersheim, co-director of FACTNet. For those of you unfamiliar with me I am a co-director of the ...

Two weeks ago, a man was cleared of trying to abduct Kathleen Wilson after he said he was saving her from a cult that had brainwashed her. Kathy doesn't see it that way. At the garage on the road into East Grinstead, the cashier smiles. "Scientologists?" he says. "You'll find them on the way into Turner's Hill. Just follow the road round. "It's a religious sect," he adds, politely. "Ah, yes," I say. "I'm afraid so," he replies. It isn't far. ...

Perturbations, pleasures and predicaments on the information superhighway: The controversial Church of Scientology is not making any new friends on the Internet. In recent weeks, attorneys for the church have threatened legal action against people who they say post church documents in the alt.religion.scientology discussion group. Now the church wants to shut down the alt.religion.scientology newsgroup entirely, claiming its top-secret "scriptures" are being revealed, and its copyrights and trade secrets violated. "We are trying to deal with an anarchy created by ...