Tilman Hausherr

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Tilman Hausherr

Born
Flag of Germany Germany
Occupation software developer
Nationality German
Genres computer programming, anti-cult activism
Subjects Scientology, Relational database management system
Official website

Tilman Hausherr is a German citizen living in Berlin, Germany. Hausherr is well-known among critics of Scientology for his frequent Usenet posts and for maintaining a website critical of Scientology. Hausherr is also the author of a software utility, Xenu's Link Sleuth, which was praised in a 2002 PC Magazine article covering 70 web builder utilities.[1]

Contents

[edit] Coined "Sporgery"

Main article: Sporgery

Hausherr is credited with coining the term "Sporgery" in the Usenet newsgroup alt.religion.scientology, to which he is a regular contributor.[2][3] "Sporgery" refers to internet attacks that not only spam a forum with offensive posts but also misrepresent regular users by forging their names to the spam posts. The term is a blending of the words "spam" and "forgery".[3][4]

[edit] Website

Hausherr's website contains a large section critical of Scientology, including the "Scientology celebrities FAQ", as well as the "FAQ: Scientology in Germany" (2001).[5][6] He has also contributed updates on the activities of the Church of Scientology to the magazine Berliner Dialog, published until 2005 by the non-profit organization Dialog Zentrum Berlin e.V.[7] Hausherr was quoted in Religion Online as stating on his Web site: "Scientology is evil; its techniques evil; its practice a serious threat to the community, medically, morally and socially."[8]

In 1998, attorneys representing the Church of Scientology sent a letter to Hausherr, telling him to remove altered Scientology images from his Web site.[9] Hausherr had parodied copyright-protected images belonging to the Church including changing the Scientology "S" to a dollar sign, as well as elongating the nose of the president of the organization, an image intended to evoke comparison to Pinocchio.[9] In the course of the dispute Compuserve, which was hosting the pages and altered images, blocked his website for terms of service violations.[10] Hausherr defended his site, saying "It's just a page making fun of Scientology--it's a form of art. Parodies are allowed under German and U.S. law."[9]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "70 assists for a winning site.(WEB BUILDER'S TOOLKIT)", PC Magazine, April 23, 2002.
  2. ^ Attack of the Robotic Poets, ZDNet, by Kevin Poulsen, May 06, 1999.
  3. ^ a b Højsgaard, Morten T.; Margit Warburg (2005). Religion and Cyberspace. Routledge, Page 111. ISBN ISBN 0415357675. 
  4. ^ Rutter, Daniel. "Gibbering clones the future of Usenet?" (Reprint with annotation), Australian IT, 1999-09-16. Retrieved on 2007-03-16. 
  5. ^ Kent, Stephen A. (September 2003). "Scientology and the European Human Rights Debate: A Reply to Leisa Goodman, J. Gordon Melton, and the European Rehabilitation Project Force Study". Marburg Journal of Religion 8 (1). 
  6. ^ Hexham, Irving; Karla Poewe (April 1999). "“Verfassungsfeindlich”: Church, State, And New Religions In Germany". Nova Religio 2 (2): 208–227. doi:10.1525/nr.1999.2.2.208. 
    Hudson, David., Scientology's "Holocaust" : Is Hollywood on the wrong side in Germany's "Church" vs. state furor?, Salon.com, February 25, 1997
  7. ^ Berliner Dialog Article by Tilman Hausherr, "Helnwein und Scientology"
  8. ^ Dawson, Lorne L.; Douglas E. Cowan (2004). Religion Online: Finding Faith on the Internet. Routledge, Page 261. ISBN ISBN 0415970229. 
  9. ^ a b c Macavinta, Courtney. "Scientologists in trademark disputes", CNET News, January 29, 1998. (English) 
  10. ^ Zehnder, Matthias W.. "Extremismus im Internet", Birkhäuser Verlag, 1998. (German) 

[edit] External links

Internet Portal
Scientology Portal