Title: failed US pressure on
Sweden to remove the cult NOTs -- first-hand knowledge from a
Swede
Author: grady@gradyxward.com (Grady Ward)
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 16:34:20 GMT
Hi Grady, you can forward this to a.r.s if you want. The thread name is as above. Two or three of the more competent and serious contributors to a.r.s have asked for facts from Sweden. Vaughan Young e g. I don't think it's any real risk, that the Standing Committee om Constitutional Matters in the Parliament will do an U-turn, and classify the NOTs. I happen to be a class-mate from college to the chancellery chief there, and he don't think so either, but you can't thrust politicians. If they indeed classify the NOTs, it would be annoying, but no more. The gnome is out of the bottle, if you can say so in English. The Trades Secrets are blown, and each and all may make fair quotes. That is, as I have written several times to you, the only important and lasting help you brave American Clam critics can get from Sweden and our offentlighetsprincip. By the way for your information. First made Kobrin and McShane the OTs and the NOTs public/published when they sued Zenon. Next step was that Zenon did the same by giving in the bundle of text as a file attachment in his lawsuite. (It wasn't until then I heard about Zenon's fight.) Third step: Zenon made the texts public in the Parliament. Fourth step: I made the NOTs, but not the OTs, public in an number om agencies, of which the Chancellor was the most important. It was at least in ten agencies. (Funny: I thougt the OTs be so silly, so I didn't bother to copy those pages. I knew very little about Clams then.) Fifth step: Zenon made them public again after Duchaunac's theft at three places. Sixth step: Andreas made them public in Norway. Seventh step: The Ministry of Justice, but none more, capitulated to the US representative Charlene Barscheffsky, and classified the so called scriptures i their registrar's office. Kobrin/McShane never understood the implications, but this cute couple, not Zenon, made the Scriptures public and published in Sweden. Om the other hand, Zenon alone must given the honour that it happened at all, and everything went to hell for the Clams here in Sweden. As he intended. ***************************** Keith (kewyatt@teleport.nospam.com) wrote: >The concern of the US government is that Trade Secrets and >copyrighted material could be published and distributed by >Sweden. The US constitution prohibits the US government to define criteria: what is a religion. It's not so in Sweden and Europe. Silly cults and sects may exist here too, but they aren't accepted as religions. In USA any fool may start a so called religion, and, obviously, get tax relief. That may even be the fool's main aim with his sect. Neither are Trade Secrets and Copyright identical things. In Sweden may industries, eg software companies, own Trade Secrets. Churches and religions can't. [Irony: If Scienos accepted the German view, that Co$ is a company working for profit, they could very well own the OTs and the NOTs in Sweden as Trade Secrets under the Swedish Trade Secrets law.] If the US government really is concerned, that Trade Secrets could be published and distributed by Sweden, we shall remember two names: Helena K. Kobrin and Warren McShane. They, and they alone, are responsible for making the OTs and the NOTs published in Sweden. The material got published in the very moment they sued Zenon Panoussis. With an incredible foolishness, they hadn't translated the appropriate Swedish laws to English before they sued. The outcome is a legal disaster for Co$, and the Trade Secrets are gone for ever, but they only have themselves to blame. [For obvious reasons Kobrin has lately been forced to close her own law office, and join another.] The negligence of the two scientologs is almost unbelievable. Warren McShane worked a month in Stockholm preparing the lawsuite without checking the Swedish Constitution and Common Law. Even superficial analyses would have revealed: If and when they sued Zenon Panossis, Co$ and RTC would make the material published, and the Trade Secrets gone for ever. The US government can't accuse the Swedish Parliament of legal actions actually made by Kobrin and McShane. None in the world had more valid interest than this cute couple to carefully protect the OTs and the NOTs. Kobrin and McShane failed. >This would cause the value of any trade secrets to be destroyed. >Using the law in Sweden any person could publish the source code >for Windows or any other trade secret and get away with it. Totally wrong, Keith Wyatt. The source code for Windows may be published and wellknown: it's still illegal to sell it for profit for any other than the owner of the property and licencees. In Sweden it works like the rules for patents: you may know them, but you can't use the knowledge to make any sort of money. [In USA someone may use another inventor's patent until the other guy sues you. If he doesn't sue, you may continue to use his patent. The laws are different in USA and Europe.] >Scientology is simply using this to force the government into >action. However, the real concern comes from corporations that >could have their trade secrets destroyed, not the Scientology >issue. Not at all. Co$ denies, it's a corporation. The analogy is false. Co$ has nothing to do with Disney, Microsoft etc. True companies can collect fees in Sweden, as in in the US, for owned intellectual properties. Sweden is not Southern China. >Zenon has shown the world where one can publish trade secrets and >get away with it legally. Yes. The Swedish Constitution [and Copyright Law] has worked as intended. The OTs and NOTs are published and public papers to the benefit of all citizens' information and the Freedom of Speech. Co$ lawyers may not like it, but in Sweden the pros and cons are, that Freedom of Speech weighs more. The texts of OTs and the NOTs are public for all Swedish citizens because a shady sect and other questionable phenomena in our society are supposed to be scrutinized under the offentlighetsprincip. It's as simple as that. Keith Wyatt is right: The Trade Secrets are gone. As a consequense it's legal to make Fair Use Quotes from the OTs and the NOTs. You may also use the word Scientology whenever you need it. Scienos can't stop a public dialogue about themselves any longer. The question if Swedish courts will accept, that RTC also legally owns a valid copyright is still pending. The Scientolog lawyers have only given in masked copies of the original NOTs, and not even of all of them. Under normal circumstances in a Swedish lawsuite about copyright, this would not be accepted by the court as proof of legally valid proprietorship. >This is a concern to corporations around the world and this is >why the US government has acted to get Sweden to not do this. The >Scientology concern is a minor issue. Keith Wyatt's last sentence is quite right. Sweden will certainly not change it's constitution after pressure from a shady Californian sect. The OTs and the NOTs will remain as public common papers under the offentlighetsprincip. Sorry, Keith Wyatt.