((My comments in double parentheses - Homer)) VISIT FROM THE CHURCH ROSS - 3 07 December 1993 Copyright (C) 1993 Leonardo Redistribution rights granted for non commercial purposes. ATTESTATION To All Interested Parties: Last night about 8:30 PM while writing a letter, I heard and then saw that my front yard security lights had gone on. I looked out the window and saw two well dressed gentlemen, one of them carrying a briefcase on my porch, approaching my front door. I approached the front door myself just as they knocked and opened the door. I thought from their appearance and demeanor which was slightly apologetic, that they were Jehovah's Witnesses out to give me some copies of their publications. I thought that, until the man who had knocked asked me whether I was Bob Ross, and introduced himself as Bob Sullivan representing the Church of Scientology. I answered, "Yes, I'm Bob Ross you may not come in." I then said, excuse me, went to my desk, picked up a mini-tape recorder, pushed the record button and slipped the recorder into my shirt pocket to record the conversation. The next thing I did was to ask them for identification. Bob Sullivan showed me a California Driver's License numbered N6691946. Bill Zalen showed me a driver's license numbered A0764999. Bob Sullivan did most of the talking saying almost immediately that now that the church had settled with the IRS, they had funds and people available to deal with other people. Bob Sullivan then said that they were there to discuss with me violations of copyright. I told him I was not knowingly or intentionally violating any copyright and if they thought I was that they should communicate with me and I would look into the matter. I find this intensely interesting because I read newspaper reports of a copyright case involving The Christian Science Church and the writings of Mary Baker Eddy. The Supreme Court I believe held that inasmuch as the Christian Science Church considered Mary Baker Eddy's writings as church scripture they were not covered by copyright. Inasmuch as the Church of Scientology has long proclaimed for legal reasons that the writings of L. Ron Hubbard and his lectures as well are all church scripture the same ruling might well be considered to apply to them. However, it might take another court battle up to the supreme court to determine whether the ruling that applied to the Church of Christian Science indeed applies to the Church of Scientology anent ((anent = regarding)) copyrights and trademarks. In the absence of such a decision, the Church of Scientology can legally sue for copyright infringement without having the case summarily dismissed as frivolous and therefore the merits of the case might well be lost under the burden of paying court costs and fighting court battles. Thus the rights and wrongs of the issue may not determine in the end who wins in this arena but only who has more money to pursue court battles. Most lawyers do not work for free. However, if a person being sued for copyright infringement was able to find a competent lawyer ready to assume to burden of fighting the case as high as necessary, that lawyer could then countersue the church for frivolous use of the courts to harass after winning and be awarded multi-millions of dollars in damages. Now back to the conversation. Bill Zalen pulled out of his briefcase a copy of the Spring '93 issue of the Free Spirit and read a few words out of it referring to an article I had written entitled "Independent N0Ts," which he reads as independent knots. He then asked me whether he could purchase a copy of that document from me. I answered that my policy was to not sell any of my materials knowingly to any member of the church. I did not say why. If I had I might have said, "I am not prepared to make things easier for a group that treats me as an enemy, subject to Fair Game." Secondly, "What I do is so different from the Church definition of Standard Tech that I doubt that they could use what I have written," and thirdly, in any case, "I do not wish to provide them with my ideas at the price of a single copy of my writings." Then Bill Zalen, pulled out of his briefcase a copy of a letter I had written in response to a legal letter on possible copyright infringement from the church. In my letter, I had also said, "I am not knowingly or deliberately violating any copyrights, If you see any violations let me know and I will look into it." As part of the conversation I told them that I was not against the church, but I was very disappointed in the fact that the church was not moving forward on the goal to clear the planet. As I see it the high prices they are charging prevent many people from getting auditing. I did not say, because I did not think of it at the time, "Now that the legal struggle with the IRS is over, and two million dollars a month is no longer needed for that fight, Church prices could be considerably lowered." I did say, that I had been harassed by church members, though I couldn't prove it in court. I believe that it was a church member who punched a hole in the side wall of one of my car tires when it was parked on the parking lot outside the building I was living in in Riverside, Cal. I believe that the same person or another, loosened a spark plug in my VW Van engine while it was parked in the same parking lot a few days later so that it blew out of the engine with a roar after I drove a couple of blocks." My belief is that it was a church penitent trying to strike a blow against a person he had been told was enemy to the church. He would have done this in order to get back into good standing in the church, by following the church ethics liability formula. "Strike a blow against the enemy." I did say, "The church would be very embarrassed if some church members were proven to be doing illegal things, like a registrar putting charges on a credit card that had not been authorized." In the course of this conversation they told me that they had spent time with Fleming Funch and had come to an agreement with him on copyright matters. I spoke to Fleming after they left and he said, that he had not permitted them into his house but had sat down with them outside the house in his garage and later in a coffee shop discussing things. Another friend, advised me to never get together with them except in equal numbers to the number of church representatives to prevent becoming overwhelmed, even if politely. The entire interview lasted about thirty minutes. After they left, I felt rather shaken and called a friend on the phone. This friend told me that the church had not won as much as they implied in their suit against Jim Bostrom for copyright violation. As compared with what they sued him for, $250,000 for copyright infringement, all the judge who heard the case awarded them was $250, the price of the one pack which they had proved that he copied and sold. I spoke to Fleming Funch who told me that the church had sent Class IX C/S Barry Ross and Scott Musselman CO of OSA to talk with him. ((Commanding Officer of Office of Special Affairs, the new GO.)) These people he said were apparently more upset by his departures from what they considered to be standard tech than they were by the apparent copyright violations they were supposedly there to negotiate about. I have a hunch that they're purpose is to dominate the independent field and enforce their version of standard tech rather than concern with copyright violations per se, inasmuch as they may not have any more claim to copyright anyway. What concerned me after they left was that I had been told some time ago that Jim Bostrom's Word Processor had been confiscated along with all of his books papers and diskettes, so that he couldn't even write a letter. But I had not heard any details. What I had heard years earlier were stories of raids on the premises of Jack Horner and Chuck Berner in which unidentified people trashed their tape libraries of purchased LRH tapes, and tapes of their own lectures to students, and stole purchased copies of LRH books and to prevent them from teaching what they had learned, to anyone else. My friend told me that in Bostrom's case the church had invaded his premises "legally" with a search warrant and a mob of thirty people, much as the FBI went into church premises on their famous raid, but without the chain saws. It seemed on the face of it that church minions had confiscated Jim Bostrom's word processor and other materials, more or less "legally." As I have not been in the business of copying and selling Church materials. But sell only my own auditing and writings I became less worried about having the same thing happen to me. I am however, still worried about illegal entry and sabotage. I am also worried about the possibility their manufacturing "discovering" something as a basis for a law suit that I would have to respond to, I know from many stories over the years, including the trial which put Mary Sue Hubbard and various other church executives in Jail that members of the church are capable of illegal acts. I have also read through many of the documents garnered by the FBI in the course of their raid on the GO Offices in LA which detail other illegalities. So, I remain on guard. Even though the OSA is supposed to not do the nasty things the GO did. I have been maintaining a low profile in order to not attract church attention. However, now that I have it, I see no point in maintaining a low profile any longer. I also figure that attack is better and higher toned than defense. Therefore this public letter. One last thing. The security light that showed me my visitors I just recently installed on my porch because some things were stolen off my porch a few weeks ago. That theft made what had seemed for more than a year to be a safe neighborhood, suddenly seem like a dangerous neighborhood. It made me feel that my house might be broken into and other more valuable things stolen. Then more things were stolen from my backyard and I felt even less secure. So I installed another security light on my garage. But, I still wasn't sure whether the neighborhood had changed or whether I had simply become an target for known unfriends. At this point, having been visited by church people at an address which I thought I had successfully kept from them, I know they know my address and so feel that the neighborhood has not changed. So, if their purpose was to make me feel less secure, their visit had the opposite effect. I believe that the person who stole my belongings is the same person who gave them my address. And if that is the person I think it is, he is treating me as fair game in order to get back in good standing with his brother who is in good standing with the church. I hereby declare under penalty of perjury in accordance with the laws of the state of California, where I reside, that the foregoing is true to the best of my knowledge. Bob B. Robert Ross 7826 Foothill Blvd Sunland, CA 91040 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Homer Wilson Smith This file may be found at homer@rahul.net ftp.rahul.net/pub/homer/ross/ross3.memo Posted to usenet newsgroup: alt.clearing.technology