SCIENTOLOGY INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY
CASE RECEIVES LOW-GEAR VERDICT

The Church of Scientology recently received a favorable ruling by a federal judge in San Jose, Calif., but not as extensive as the one it had sought. In 1994, the church sued Dennis Erlich, who published “secret” documents on the computer Internet. The uploaded materials included selected Scientology instructional materials and transcripts of discourses against critics of the sect.

Erlich is a former Scientology minister. The church charged that he was trying to deride the sect by posting documents that were classified as “trade secrets.”

In early 1995, Erlich was issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting him from publishing additional documents on the Internet. However, in a ruling made public in September, U.S. District Judge Ronald M. Whyte, rejected Scientology’s “trade secret” argument and turned down its request to prevent Erlich from continued use of all church materials. Whyte’s ruling did bar Erlich from large-scale reproduction of copyrighted church documents.

According to a Religious News Service report: “Erlich may publish brief excerpts of the copyrighted materials, however, to advance his criticism of the church.”

Other court cases initiated by Scientology against two Internet services, which gave Erlich access to upload the material, were pending when this journal went to press.

—MKG

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