<s>
The	O
Usenet	B-Application
newsgroup	O
alt.religion.scientology	B-Application
(	O
often	O
abbreviated	O
a.r.s	B-Application
or	O
ARS	O
)	O
started	O
in	O
1991	O
to	O
discuss	O
the	O
controversial	O
beliefs	O
of	O
Scientology	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
activities	O
of	O
the	O
Church	O
of	O
Scientology	O
,	O
which	O
claims	O
exclusive	O
intellectual	O
property	O
rights	O
thereto	O
and	O
is	O
viewed	O
by	O
many	O
as	O
a	O
dangerous	O
cult	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
newsgroup	O
has	O
become	O
the	O
focal	O
point	O
of	O
an	O
aggressive	O
battle	O
known	O
as	O
Scientology	B-Application
versus	I-Application
the	I-Application
Internet	I-Application
,	O
which	O
has	O
taken	O
place	O
both	O
online	O
and	O
in	O
the	O
courts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
July	O
17	O
,	O
1991	O
,	O
the	O
alt.religion.scientology	B-Application
newsgroup	O
was	O
created	O
by	O
Scientology	O
critic	O
Scott	B-Application
Charles	I-Application
Goehring	I-Application
after	O
a	O
discussion	O
with	O
his	O
then	O
girlfriend	O
and	O
a	O
third	O
party	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Goehring	O
describes	O
starting	O
the	O
newsgroup	O
"	O
because	O
I	O
felt	O
Usenet	B-Application
needed	O
a	O
place	O
to	O
disseminate	O
the	O
truth	O
about	O
this	O
half-assed	O
religion	O
"	O
and	O
in	O
part	O
as	O
a	O
joke	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
Usenet	B-Application
newgroup	B-Protocol
message	O
used	O
to	O
create	O
the	O
newsgroup	O
was	O
formatted	O
in	O
a	O
manner	O
to	O
disguise	O
the	O
actual	O
identity	O
of	O
the	O
poster	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Scientology	O
has	O
used	O
this	O
argument	O
in	O
its	O
requests	O
to	O
have	O
the	O
entire	O
newsgroup	O
removed	O
from	O
Usenet	B-Application
,	O
but	O
this	O
argument	O
has	O
been	O
nearly	O
unanimously	O
rejected	O
by	O
system	O
administrators	O
and	O
ISPs	O
alike	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
online	O
"	O
war	O
"	O
first	O
came	O
to	O
the	O
attention	O
of	O
Internet	O
users	O
in	O
general	O
when	O
Scientology	O
lawyer	O
Helena	O
Kobrin	O
attempted	O
to	O
remove	O
the	O
entire	O
newsgroup	O
from	O
Usenet	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
January	O
11	O
,	O
1995	O
,	O
an	O
rmgroup	O
message	O
(	O
a	O
command	O
designed	O
to	O
remove	O
a	O
newsgroup	O
)	O
was	O
posted	O
to	O
Usenet	B-Application
containing	O
the	O
following	O
statement	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Rather	O
than	O
being	O
removed	O
from	O
Usenet	B-Application
,	O
the	O
newsgroup	O
exploded	O
in	O
popularity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Articles	O
posted	O
to	O
Usenet	B-Application
can	O
be	O
canceled	O
by	O
a	O
special	O
control	B-Protocol
message	I-Protocol
(	O
normally	O
from	O
the	O
original	O
sender	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Starting	O
in	O
1995	O
,	O
large	O
numbers	O
of	O
rogue	O
cancels	O
were	O
posted	O
to	O
the	O
newsgroup	O
by	O
a	O
cancelbot	B-Protocol
dubbed	O
"	O
Cancelbunny	B-Protocol
"	O
,	O
mainly	O
against	O
critical	O
articles	O
containing	O
portions	O
of	O
the	O
"	O
Advanced	O
Technology	O
"	O
documents	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
parallel	O
with	O
this	O
,	O
floods	O
of	O
articles	O
containing	O
excerpts	O
of	O
publicly	O
available	O
Church	O
of	O
Scientology	O
material	O
were	O
spammed	B-Application
to	O
the	O
newsgroup	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2006	O
Alt.religion.scientology	B-Application
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
more	O
popular	O
newsgroups	O
on	O
Usenet	B-Application
,	O
averaging	O
three	O
to	O
four	O
hundred	O
messages	O
per	O
day	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
total	O
number	O
of	O
readers	O
is	O
unknown	O
,	O
but	O
Google	O
reports	O
over	O
8,800	O
subscribers	O
to	O
the	O
newsgroup	O
through	O
Google	B-Application
Groups	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
evidence	O
,	O
they	O
point	O
to	O
the	O
software	O
package	O
sometimes	O
dubbed	O
"	O
Scieno	B-Application
Sitter	I-Application
"	O
by	O
critics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
software	O
package	O
,	O
described	O
as	O
an	O
"	O
Internet	B-Protocol
filter	I-Protocol
"	O
,	O
was	O
part	O
of	O
a	O
"	O
Web	O
starter	O
kit	O
"	O
distributed	O
by	O
the	O
Church	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Church	O
did	O
not	O
disclose	O
the	O
other	O
purpose	O
of	O
the	O
starter	O
kit	O
:	O
the	O
"	O
Scieno	B-Application
Sitter	I-Application
"	O
program	O
blocks	O
users	O
from	O
accessing	O
the	O
newsgroup	O
alt.religion.scientology	B-Application
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
many	O
Web	O
sites	O
containing	O
information	O
critical	O
of	O
Scientology	O
,	O
and	O
references	O
to	O
the	O
names	O
of	O
many	O
vocal	O
critics	O
of	O
the	O
organization	O
.	O
</s>
