In this issue:
Jury orders Henson to pay Scientology $75K
for Copyright Infringement
I Love Oprah!
Internet Mind Virus Update
Virtual Pet Update
Politics as Usual Dept.
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Jury orders Henson to pay Scientology $75K
for Copyright Infringement
Keith Henson, a California engineer, writer, and early memetics enthusiast,
was found liable this week for $75,000 in statutory damages for willfully
posting copyrighted material belonging to the Church of Scientology on the
Internet.
Henson, who in 1988 published a superb essay on memetics (URL below), posted
part of Scientology's "scripture" to the Internet newsgroup
alt.religion.scientology on March 30 and 31, 1996. Henson said in his trial
that he was alarmed by the activities of what he judged to be a "criminal
cult" and that the text he posted was evidence of the group giving its
members "instruction for practice of medicine without a license." He said
the text instructs church members to treat illness with a device known as an
"E-meter." Scientology was previously ordered by the FDA not to use the
device for medical purposes and to place warning labels on each one to that
effect. The E-meter, which measures electrical currents through the skin, is
similar to a simple lie detector and is used in a Scientology practice known
as "auditing." Henson felt that the public's need to know about what he
considered illegal activity outweighed any possible copyright
considerations.
U.S. District Judge Ronald M. Whyte of Northern California had previously
determined in summary judgment that the posting was a copyright infringement
and did not fall under the copyright law's "Fair Use" exception because it
was posted in its entirety and without significant commentary. The jury then
awarded statutory damages of $75,000 from an allowable range of
$500-$100,000. Under copyright law, all writings are automatically granted
copyright protection at the moment of their creation regardless of the
presence of a copyright notice. It is not necessary to show actual damages
in the case of willful infringement.
Those who wish to donate to Keith Henson's legal battle should send checks
to Keith Henson defense fund at:
Berry, Lewis, Scalli & Stojkovic
One Wilshire Blvd., 21st Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Folks who want to help him directly can make out checks, money orders or
cash (depending on paranoia level) and send to him as gifts at
Keith Henson
Box 60012
Palo Alto, CA 94306
The transcript of Henson's trial is on line at
http://www.xmission.com/~mirele/henson.html
Henson's essay "Memes, Genes and Politics" is available on line at
http://www.phlab.missouri.edu/~ccgreg/Memes/copies/henson.politics.html
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I Love Oprah!
I returned from a trip yesterday to find several messages from friends
congratulating me for getting mentioned on the May 12, 1998 Oprah Winfrey
Show. Wow! If you are not in the publishing business, let me just say:
that's a big deal! Although I haven't seen the tape of the show, reports are
that she recommended my book VIRUS OF THE MIND and said it explained a lot
about why people behaved in certain ways. Oprah, you are one smart cookie.
[Note: if anyone has a tape of the show you would be willing to send me,
please email me at richard@brodietech.com so I can see it!]
Writing a book that Oprah or another top-rated talk-show host likes is a
great way to help spread your memes. As publishers of books selected for her
extremely popular Oprah Book Club know, a mere mention of a book by Oprah
can account for sales of tens or even hundreds of thousands of copies. In
this case, in the two days since Oprah recommended VIRUS OF THE MIND on her
show, wholesale orders are more than ten times their usual level. With a
hundred thousand new books published every year, the publicity generated by
the memes broadcast into millions of TV viewers is essential to a book's
success.
These days publishers are often more interested in how promotable an author
is than in the merit of the book. The blurbs in my books mention things like
my association with Bill Gates, the fact that I wrote the first version of
Microsoft Word, the fact that I went to Harvard -- none of which have much
to do with the contents of my books, no matter how important, fascinating,
or entertaining those contents may be. Celebrity memes are big sellers --
just look at the OJ trial, the death of Princess Diana, or the Clinton sex
scandals to see how easily we are attracted to stories combining celebrity
with another of the big push-buttons: danger or sex.
In writing VIRUS OF THE MIND, I put my memes where my mouth was. I used
every memetic trick I wrote about to actually demonstrate how easily we get
"memed." I wanted people to read the book and feel COMPELLED to go out and
spread the word. The result has been steadily increasing popularity,
violating the normal trend of a hardcover bestseller which peaks through a
big publicity rush and then trails off. VIRUS OF THE MIND is following the
rarer pattern of a word-of-mouth bestseller. Word of mouth is a form of
self-replication: you read the book, you like it, you spread the meme by
telling others about it.
(Actually, even people who hate my book find themselves telling others about
it. Go to
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0963600117/memecentralA/ and check
out the review by the guy from Salt Lake City.)
I honestly didn't know if it would work when I wrote it and put the
"Warning: live mind virus!" label on the back cover, but apparently it has.
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Internet Mind Virus Update
Reader Rudy Nadler-Nir pointed me to Rob Rosenberger's Computer Virus Myths
home page, a compendium of Internet virus scares along with recommended
books and links. It's quite an interesting site (even though Virus of the
Mind is unaccountably missing from the recommended reading). Surf on over to
http://kumite.com/myths/
Here's one of their most recent news blurbs: AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED by the
U.S. Army War College says the Russian 666 computer virus can cause heart
arrhythmia in humans. It goes on to say that, with the right programming, a
computer virus could alter human perceptions or even "inject a thought into
[your] subconscious."
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Virtual Pet Update
[Thanks to Steve Kalinowski]
In France, a woman driving her automobile ran down a group of cyclists,
killing one and injuring others, because she was tending to a "Tamagotchi"
virtual baby thing while driving and took her eyes off the road for a
moment.
The Tamagotchi survived.
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Politics as Usual Dept.
[Thanks to Tim Rhodes for this tidbit]
Representative Tim Moor sponsored a resolution in the Texas House of
Representatives in Austin, Texas calling on the House to commend Albert de
Salvo for his unselfish service to "his country, his state and his
community."
The resolution stated that "this compassionate gentleman's dedication and
devotion to his work has enabled the weak and the lonely throughout the
nation to achieve and maintain a new degree of concern for their future.
He has been officially recognized by the state of Massachusetts for his
noted activities and unconventional techniques involving population control
and applied psychology."
The resolution was passed unanimously.
Representative Moore then revealed that he had only tabled the motion to
show how the legislature passes bills and resolutions often without reading
them or understanding what they say. Albert de Salvo was the Boston
Strangler.
All the best memes,
Richard
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