Filed under: Anonymous, Scientology, church of scientology, churches of scientology | Tags: Anonymous, church of scientology, mettenbrink, Scientology
ON WEDNESDAY, October 28, a federal grand jury in Los Angeles, indicted Brian Thomas Mettenbrink, a member of the cyber group Anonymous, for his part in the January 2008 attempted destruction of Scientology websites, owned by the Church of Scientology.
Mettenbrink, 20, has been charged with the conspiracy and the “transmission of a code, information, program or command to a protected computer. ” The indictment states that he obtained a computer program from an Anonymous website and executed a “DDOS” attack from his dormitory, at the Iowa state university, against church computers in Los Angeles. A DDOS (distributed denial of service) attack occurs where a large amount of malicious Internet traffic is directed at a website or a set of websites, with the intent to overwhelm and shut down the websites.
Brain is the second member of Anonymous to face criminal charges relating to this attack. In May 2009, Dmitriy Guzner, then 18, pleaded guilty to computer hacking charges for his role in the attack on church computers. He is currently awaiting sentencing.
Filed under: Anonymous, Scientology, church of scientology, churches of scientology | Tags: Anonymous, church of scientology, Scientology
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/11/verona_man_admits_hacking_chur.html#postComment
By Nic Corbett/For The Star-Ledger
November 16, 2009, 9:00PM
In January 2008, online hackers launched a massive attack on the Church of Scientology’s websites, forcing the church to hire computer security experts to reinstate its online presence.
In the end, only one person, 19-year-old Dmitriy Guzner, of Verona, has admitted playing a role in the cyber assault. On Wednesday, three days before his 20th birthday, Guzner is expected to be sentenced by Judge Joseph A. Greenaway Jr. in federal court in Newark. Guzner, who has pleaded guilty to “unauthorized impairment of a protected computer,” faces up to 2 1/2 years in prison and nearly $119,000 in fines.
Verona teen Dmitriy Guzner caught the attention of federal authorities after a YouTube video of a protest of the Church of Scientology in New York City identified one of the participants — the individual in the center — as “Aendy, ” which is also Guzner’s online handle. Guznerhas admitted his role in an online assault of the church’s websites.
The online attack by members of a loosely formed, leaderless group called Anonymous was meant as an anti-Scientology protest. According to the Anonymous website whyweprotest.net, the group was upset by the church’s attempts to suppress a leaked promotional video featuring actor and Scientologist Tom Cruise, who made enthusiastic claims about the religion.
“I think they were relying on a very simple premise, that the number of people arrested and convicted of these kinds of attacks is very low,” said Jose Nazario, manager of security research at Arbor Networks, which helps companies keep their websites secure.
On Jan. 17, 2008, Guzner and an undisclosed number of cohorts launched a distributed denial of service attack, or DDoS for short, against the religious organization’s Web presence, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Erez Liebermann, who is handling the Guzner case.
Using a program downloaded from an Anonymous-related message board, the group sent so many hits to the Scientology websites that it overwhelmed the church’s servers, making the pages temporarily inaccessible to legitimate users.
| Video from Scientology raid in New York by the group Anonymous |
The main website was down for about 24 hours, until the church moved its servers to an outside hosting company. The church then hired another company to divert traffic coming from the attackers. Nazario measured 488 attacks by individuals on Jan. 19, the longest of which lasted almost two hours.
The cyber vigilantes kept up the attack for at least 12 days, according to a prosecutor involved in the case.
Others made prank calls to the “mother church” in Los Angeles and sent faxes of pure black paper to use up the toner in the fax machines, said Kendrick Moxon, a lawyer for the Church of Scientology.
Anonymous members, or Anons for short, see the church, founded by science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard in the mid-1950s, as a dangerous cult, and they’ve banded together to expose it for what they see as fraud and other abuses, the members said in press releases they posted on the Internet.
A YouTube video by Anonymous, which surfaced shortly after the attacks, featured a robotic voice that warned the church of the group’s plan to systematically dismantle the religious organization “for the good of your followers, for the good of mankind and for our own enjoyment.” The declaration of war was followed by prank calls, juvenile stunts, death threats, vandalism of churches and organized protests across the country, Moxon said.
Dmitriy GuznerReferring to the January 2008 cyber attack, Moxon, who attended Guzner’s court hearing last month, said: “That was the first such incident. From that point on, things got out of control.”
Guzner was arrested after a YouTube video of a real-life protest that mentioned his Internet handle “Aendy” caught the attention of federal authorities. During his plea hearing in Newark in May, Guzner, a pale, slender teenager who attends Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, denied being a member of Anonymous but admitted he participated in the first day of the attacks.
Guzner’s family recently moved to Verona from Brooklyn, but on social-networking sites he said his hometown is Moscow. He has no prior criminal history, and prosecutors have not detailed Guzner’s role in the attack. Still, an examination of internet message boards and one of Guzner’s class Web projects show he’s steeped in the underground online culture of 4chan.org, from which the Anonymous movement arose.
Guzner declined to comment until after the sentencing hearing. His lawyer, Edward McQuat, also wouldn’t comment, saying he has to respect his client’s wishes.
In the wake of the cyber-attack, the church has labeled Anonymous a hate group.
“This group Anonymous, sir, they’re not nice people,” Moxon told Greenaway at a court hearing last month. “They’re haters.”
Moxon carried with him a 42-page glossy magazine about Anonymous published by an arm of the church, which describes the group’s members as “cyber bullies.”
Authorities have not disclosed much information about how they caught Guzner, other than to say they identified him after noticing the name “Aendy” was used in a YouTube video to describe one of four masked individuals plastering anti-Scientology flyers on signs outside the church’s midtown New York City offices. For that protest, or “raid,” which took place on the third day of the cyber attack in 2008, Aendy and the other three protesters wore the Guy Fawkes masks from the movie “V is for Vendetta” favored by members of Anonymous. In 1605, Fawkes conspired with others in an attempt to blow up England’s Parliament.
The FBI and the U.S. Secret Service, as part of the Electronic Crimes Task Force in Los Angeles, worked together to identify Aendy as Guzner, prosecutors said. They searched his home in Brooklyn and turned up a Guy Fawkes mask.
The church has asked the federal judge in Newark demand Guzner pay nearly $119,000 — the cost to divert the DDoS attacks and pay for protective services. But Guzner’s lawyer said just $37,500, a portion of the contract, was agreed upon in the plea deal, in which Guzner admitted to participating in the attack.
Prosecutors have recommended Guzner be sentenced to 12 months to 18 months with no chance of parole, followed by two to three years of probation.
Three weeks ago, a second man was charged in connection with the DDoS attack. A federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted Brian Thomas Mettenbrink on charges of conspiracy and transmission of a code, information, program or command to a protected computer. The 20-year-old is accused of participating in the attack from his Iowa State University dorm room, according to the indictment.
In March 2008, before his arrest, Guzner posted on an online message board a link to a site he created for a class. Instead of using filler text for one sample page, he included a narrative that spoofs the Tom Cruise video, based on Cruise’s claim that Scientologists are the only ones who can help in a car crash.
The actor is depicted rescuing a woman from a four-car pileup on the freeway: “Stand back, emergency workers,” Cruise says in the story, which is widely copied on Anonymous websites. “Put down your jaws-of-life and crowbars. I am a Scientologist.”
Filed under: Scientology, church of scientology, hate crime, violence | Tags: hate, hate crimes, Scientology, violence
Training seminars to fight hate crime
With high-ranking FBI officials reporting violent crime against churches on the rise, representatives of the Church of Scientology of Inglewood and the St. Mark United Methodist Church in South Los Angeles co-sponsored the Second Annual Hate Crimes Conference and a workshop to educate leaders of faith-based and community-based groups how to fight anti-religious hate crimes.
Held at St. Mark United Methodist Church in South LA, Hate Crime Conference speakers included human rights attorney Barry Fisher; Rev. Chip Murray, former Senior Pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church and now serving as professor of Christian Ethics at University of Southern California; Ms. Tereser Banks, Victorville Federal Prison Warden; Captain Bob Green, commander of LAPD 77th precinct; Mr. Shakeel Syed, head of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California; and Bob Adams of the Church of Scientology International.
From the issues covered in the conference, community- and faith-based groups attending requested further training in programs introduced by the Church of Scientology, resulting in the follow-up workshop.
Pam Roberts, Director of Public Affairs for the Church of Scientology of Inglewood, introduced Joni Ginsberg, Executive Director of The Way to Happiness Foundation International, who conducted a workshop on the newly published educator’s guide to The Way to Happiness, a non-religious moral code based entirely on common sense. Written by L. Ron Hubbard, the booklet fills the moral vacuum and addresses urgent issues that contribute to increasing violence in today’s society.
Ms. Ginsberg’s presentation covered the precept “Set a good example.” Those attending will now in turn implement the program in their groups, churches and communities. Rev. Willie Rollins of Community Missionary Baptist Church in Compton said the information covered in the Hate Crimes Conference and The Way to Happiness workshop will help “build and improve relationships that will bridge the gap between religions and races.”
This year’s Hate Crimes conference grew out of a program initiated in May 2008, held at the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre International in Los Angeles, at which law enforcement and government officials, clergy and educators examined the growing problem of Internet hate crime and ways to improve Internet safety and security.
For more information on Scientology programs that counter violence and intolerance, visit the Scientology web site at www.scientology.org
Filed under: Scientology, church of scientology, churches of scientology, l. ron hubbard | Tags: Scientology, church of scientology, church, new church, opening, grand opening
The horizons of Scientology are filled with scores of new Churches in the making for 2009 and beyond. Just since the launch of the Ideal Churches Program five years ago, 70 new buildings have been acquired in major population centers around the world. Church premises have increased from 5.6 million square feet in 2004 to over 11 million in 2009, with half a million square feet of renovations completed in 2009.
Church of Scientology Georgia (Rendering)
Meanwhile, another half-million square feet are under construction in Brussels, Rome, Tel Aviv, Quebec, Mexico City, Las Vegas and Washington, DC. These are the Ideal Churches of Scientology and they are designed to present the wisdom of Scientology to many millions planet wide.
NEW IDEAL CHURCH BUILDINGS
The listing below includes all new properties now in planning or construction stage to open within the next 12 months.
UNITED STATES
· Albuquerque, New Mexico
· Atlanta, Georgia
· Battle Creek, Michigan
· Boston, Massachusetts
· Chicago, Illinois
· Cincinnati, Ohio
· Columbus, Ohio
· Detroit, Michigan
· Harlem, New York
· Inglewood, California
· Kansas City, Missouri
· Las Vegas, Nevada
· New Haven, Connecticut
· Orange County, California
· Pasadena, California
· Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
· Portland, Oregon
· Sacramento, California
· San Diego, California
· San Fernando Valley, California
· St. Louis, Missouri
· Seattle, Washington
· Twin Cities, Minnesota
· Washington, DC
CANADA
· Kitchener, Ontario
· Montreal, Quebec
· Quebec City, Quebec
· Winnipeg, Manitoba
LATIN AMERICA
· Bogota, Colombia
· Caracas, Venezuela
· Valencia, Venezuela
· Las Lomas, Mexico
· Mexico City, DF, Mexico
EUROPE
· Brussels, Belgium
· Budapest, Hungary
· Copenhagen, Denmark
· Milan, Italy
· Padova, Italy
· Pordenone, Italy
· Rome, Italy
· Tel Aviv, Israel
· Torino, Italy
· Verona, Italy
UNITED KINGDOM
· Birmingham, England
· Manchester, England
· Sunderland, England
AFRICA
· Cape Town, South Africa
· Durban, South Africa
· Port Elizabeth, South Africa
· Pretoria, South Africa
· Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
· Harare, Zimbabwe
AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND/ASIA
· Auckland, New Zealand
· Kaohsiung, Taiwan
· Melbourne, Australia
Filed under: Scientology, anti-drug, church of scientology | Tags: anti-drug, drug-free, Scientology
The Drug-Free Marshals from the Church of Scientology Los Angeles pledged in hundreds of youth last Saturday to live a drug-free life in honor of the 21st celebration of Red Ribbon Week commemorating DEA (Drug Enforcement Agent) Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena.
Camarena was an 11-year DEA agent working under cover in Mexico on the way to breaking up a multi-billion-drug pipeline but in 1985 he was caught, tortured and murdered by Mexican drug traffickers. His death was an eye opener to the danger of drugs and the widespread dangers of the drug trade. In 1988, President Reagan and Mrs. Reagan along with the National Family Partnership coordinated the first National Red Ribbon Week.
The new Drug-Free Marshal’s and their parents armed themselves with The Truth About Drugs booklets, which educate by telling what harm drugs actually do. The booklets are published by The Foundation for a Drug-Free World along with 12 other booklets that inform on the most commonly used drugs, i.e. marijuana, alcohol, heroin, crystal meth, prescription drugs, inhalants and painkillers. Thousand of these were given out to youth and parents so they could learn the dangers of these drugs.
“We need to educate our children regarding drug and alcohol abuse. Drugs are a large part of our children’s lives from school, television, or movies so if we don’t tell them the truth, you can be sure that the drug-dealers are selling them their lies. By early intervention we can prevent drug abuse, which also leads to violence,” said Edie Reuveni, President of the Church of Scientology Los Angeles. “Studies show a direct link between youth involvement in drugs and gang violence. As humanitarian, L. Ron Hubbard said ‘When children become unimportant to a society, that society has forfeited its future’ so unless we educate them and take responsibility for them we all lose.”
The Drug-Free Marshal’s program, sponsored by the Church, was started in Los Angeles in 1993. Since that time more than 5 million youth worldwide have pledged to be drug-free and to help family and friends do likewise.
For more information about Drug-Free Marshals visit www.drugfreemarshals.org or call 323-953-3200.
Filed under: Scientology, church of scientology, european court of human rights | Tags: church of scientology, court, human rights, Scientology
718
01.10.2009
Press release issued by the Registrar
Chamber judgment[1]
Kimlya and Others v. Russia (application nos. 76836/01 and 32782/03)
Refusal to register a religious group IN A PARTICULAR REGION
unless it had existed for 15 years
Violation of Article 9 (freedom of religion)
in the light of Article 11 (freedom of association)
of the European Convention on Human Rights
Under Article 41 (just satisfaction) of the Convention, the Court awarded Yevgeniy Kimlya and Aidar Sultanov 5,000 euros (EUR) in respect of non-pecuniary damage. (The judgment is available only in English.)
Principal facts
The three applicants are: Yevgeniy Kimlya, President of Surgut City Church of Scientology, who was born in 1977 and lives in Surgut (Russia); as well as Nizhnekamsk Church of Scientology and one of its co-founders, Aidar Sultanov, who was born in 1965 and lives in Nizhnekamsk (Russia).
Surgut Church of Scientology, initially registered as a non-governmental organisation in 1994, was later dissolved on the ground that its activities were “religious in nature”. Subsequent applications for registration as a non-religious entity were rejected in July and October 1999 for the same reason. In August 2000 in order to obtain the status of a legal entity, the Church’s founding members – including Mr Kimlya – applied to the Justice Department for registration as a local religious organisation.
Nizhnekamsk Church of Scientology, initially set up in 1998 as a religious group, had also applied for state registration as a local religious organisation in December 1999.
Following complex and lengthy proceedings, the Russian courts subsequently upheld at final instance the decisions of the registration authorities by which the two churches of Scientology were refused registration as “religious organisations” by reference to the legal requirement of the Religions Act that any new religious group had to prove that it had existed for at least 15 years in a given Russian territory or that it was affiliated with a centralised religious organisation.
A religious group, as defined in the Religions Act, has no legal personality; as such it cannot own or rent property, have a bank account, hire employees or ensure judicial protection of the community, its members and assets. Its status also rules out the opening of places of worship, the holding of religious services that are accessible to the public, acquisition and distribution of religious literature and creation of educational institutions.
Complaints, procedure and composition of the Court
The applicants complained in particular about the Russian authorities’ decisions, based on the Russian Religions Act, refusing State registration of their religious groups as legal entities. They relied on Articles 9, 10 (freedom of expression) and 11, read alone or in conjunction with Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination).
The applications were lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on 17 August 2001 and 2 October 2003, respectively. They were joined and declared partly admissible on 9 June 2005.
Judgment was given by a Chamber of seven judges, composed as follows:
Christos Rozakis (Greece), President,
Nina Vajić (Croatia),
Anatoly Kovler (Russia),
Elisabeth Steiner (Austria),
Khanlar Hajiyev (Azerbaijan),
Dean Spielmann (Luxembourg),
Sverre Erik Jebens (Norway), judges,
and also André Wampach, Deputy Section Registrar.
Decision of the Court
The Court noted that the question of whether Scientology could be described as a “religion” was a matter of controversy among the member States. In the absence of any European consensus on the religious nature of Scientology teachings, and being sensitive to the subsidiary nature of its role, the Court considered that it had to rely on the position of the domestic authorities in determining the applicability of Article 9. As the Russian authorities had been convinced of the religious nature of Surgut and Nizhnekamsk Churches of Scientology, the Court therefore decided that Article 9 was applicable in the case. Moreover, given that religious communities traditionally existed in the form of organised structures and that the complaint concerned the alleged restriction on the right to associate freely with fellow believers, Article 9 also had to be examined in the light of Article 11 which safeguarded associative life against unjustified State interference.
The Court found that the lack of legal personality and the restricted scope of rights of religious groups under the Russian Religions Act did not allow their members to effectively enjoy their right to freedom of religion and association. There had therefore been an interference with the applicants’ rights under Article 9 interpreted in the light of Article 11. That interference had been prescribed by law, namely section 9 § 1 of the Religions Act, and pursued the legitimate aim of protecting public order.
However, at no point in the proceedings had it been shown that the applicants – either as individuals or as a religious group – had engaged or intended to engage in any unlawful activities or pursued any aims other than worship, teaching, practice and observance of their beliefs. Indeed, they were denied registration as a religious organisation, not because of any shortcoming on their part or of any specific feature of their religious creed, but rather as a result of the automatic application of a legal provision, the “15-year rule” contained in section 9 § 1 of the Religions Act. The ground for refusing registration had therefore been purely formal and unconnected with their actual functioning. Furthermore, the contested provision of the Religions Act had targeted base-level religious communities that could not prove either their presence in a given Russian region or their affiliation with a centralised religious organisation. Accordingly, only those newly emerging religious groups, such as Scientology groups, that did not form part of a strictly hierarchical church structure had been affected by the “15-year rule”. The Government had not given any justification for such differential treatment.
The Court therefore concluded that the interference with the applicants’ rights to freedom of religion and association had not been “necessary in a democratic society” and held unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 9 of the Convention, interpreted in the light of Article 11. It further held unanimously that it was not necessary to examine separately the applicants’ complaints under Articles 10 and 14 finding that those complaints had been sufficiently taken into account in the above assessment.
***
This press release is a document produced by the Registry; the summary it contains does not bind the Court. The judgments are accessible on its Internet site (http://www.echr.coe.int).
Press contacts
Tracey Turner-Tretz (tel : + 33 (0)3 88 41 35 30) or
Stefano Piedimonte (tel : + 33 (0)3 90 21 42 04)
Kristina Pencheva-Malinowski (tel : + 33 (0)3 88 41 35 70)
Céline Menu-Lange (tel : + 33 (0)3 90 21 58 77)
Frédéric Dolt (tel : + 33 (0)3 90 21 53 39)
The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg by the Council of Europe Member States in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights.
[1] Under Article 43 of the Convention, within three months from the date of a Chamber judgment, any party to the case may, in exceptional cases, request that the case be referred to the 17‑member Grand Chamber of the Court. In that event, a panel of five judges considers whether the case raises a serious question affecting the interpretation or application of the Convention or its protocols, or a serious issue of general importance, in which case the Grand Chamber will deliver a final judgment. If no such question or issue arises, the panel will reject the request, at which point the judgment becomes final. Otherwise Chamber judgments become final on the expiry of the three-month period or earlier if the parties declare that they do not intend to make a request to refer.
Filed under: Scientology, foundation for a drug-free world | Tags: drug-free, foundation for a drug-free world, Scientology
Scientology church seeks to maximize the most important resource we have – our children.
The Church of Scientology of Tokyo participated in the “Eco Life Fair 2009″ – an annual expo produced by the Environment Ministry with the theme “earth environment.”
Scientology was among more than 50 participant organizations, which included NPOs (non-political organizations), NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and businesses, which share the ministry’s purpose to care for our natural resources and take responsibility for the future.
With the belief that our most important resources are our youth, the Church of Scientology of Tokyo manned a booth at the fair to let young people know the truth about drugs. Using a series of award-winning 30 to 60 second videos that created immediate impact on those visiting their booth, awakening them to some of the most controversial aspects of drug abuse.
One local assembly member who visited the booth told the Scientologists, “This is a great activity. I agree with what you are doing. This is needed in Japan. I hope you succeed.”
A young teacher, only recently graduated from school himself, told the volunteers, “It is really necessary to improve people’s awareness about drugs through education.” He was so impressed with the quality of the drug education materials, he left telling the Scientologists he was going to see the principal of his school to get him to adopt the campaign.
A teacher who works at a girls’ school confided to the Scientologists that drugs are in very wide use among the children at his school. He asked the volunteers to come lecture his students on the dangers of drugs.
Scientology churches around the world have been involved in drug education and prevention activities for more than two decades. The videos and drug education pamphlets they use are distributed by The Foundation for a Drug-Free World, a secular, nonprofit organization that empowers youth and adults with factual information about drugs so they can make informed decisions to be drug-free.
The Foundation was established in October 2006 to meet the growing demand for the Say No to Drugs, Say Yes to Life drug education materials, which were developed and refined through the drug prevention activities conducted by members of Scientology churches in collaboration with the interfaith community, volunteer organizations, education institutions and government agencies.
Filed under: Scientology, volunteer ministers | Tags: Scientology, volunteer ministers
Orlando Florida—In preparation for the 2009 hurricane season, members of the Churches of Scientology Disaster Response of Tampa joined members of other faith-based disaster response organizations in a special two-day Points of Distribution (POD) training session conducted by the Florida National Guard in Orlando.
A retired National Guard major instructed the volunteers in the various aspects of setting up and running a central location to care for the needs of those affected by a disaster, from how to establish a POD, to how to organize the distribution of the supplies and direct and control the traffic into and out of the unit.
Points of Distribution or PODs are locations selected where the public can pick up emergency supplies following a disaster. The need for a POD is based on lack of infrastructure to support normal distribution of food, water, or other supplies after a disaster.
According FEMA, the success of a POD is directly proportional to the planning done beforehand. “With a developed strategy and coordinated effort,” FEMA training materials state, “your community will get those lifesaving commodities they need quickly and efficiently.”
Under the calm and orderly conditions of a training session, the volunteers drilled carrying out the various functions they will need to perform at the POD when disaster strikes.
In addition to the training they receive at sessions like this one, members of the Churches of Scientology Disaster Response also train as Scientology Volunteer Ministers, where they learn techniques developed by Scientology founder, L. Ron Hubbard, that enable them to help people with their emotional and spiritual needs during times of crisis. These courses are available through local Scientology churches such as the Church of Scientology of Tampa which sponsors this particular team. The Scientology Volunteer Ministers program also offers free online courses and disaster response seminars. For more information, visit their web site at www.volunteerministers.org.
This entry was posted on Saturday, J
