A couple of days ago, someone commented on my previous article, that one of the people mentioned in that article, Eric Pepin, was suing the owners of an alternative news site. So the last couple of days I have been looking at what this suit was about and to my horror I discovered that it was in regards to a public forum and what people had commented on.
It caught my attention as this could have wide ramifications for the freedom of speech and the ability to discuss things on forums on the internet. It also could place severe restrictions on alternative news sites and bloggers such as yours truly, to question and bring to light the behaviours, policies or actions of organisations, corporations and our "elected" officials.
The suit is aimed at the owners of Sott.net for discussing publicly available articles that are available in newspapers and on the internet. Yes, for discussing publicly available articles! The implications are staggering as it could put thousands of bloggers and alternative news sites out of business. Bloggers and sites, some of whom do a great job at investigative journalism, which is pretty much a thing of the past in the bought corporate media.
Without these bloggers, alternative news sites and forums where will you go to find out about what is happening? Where will you go to find like minded people and others to discuss things that matters or are of concern to you?
The thing that Eric Pepin is suing Sott for is for damage to his reputation! Yes, a man who confesses to have sex with most of his staff of 11 young males and whom the judge of the court case called manipulative and controlling, is suing for damage to his reputation. The question naturally arises what reputation is this man talking about? The reputation of being manipulative and controlling, in which case he should sue the judge or is he concerned about the reputation of having sex with most of his male staff? In the latter case he should sue himself. If he feels that damage is done to his own institute, which he calls "Higher Balance Institute", then his own behaviour would be the key source for this damage.
It has made me wonder why he is suing Sott and not the newspapers or the internet search engines, where everything can be found out about this man, if you care to search. And it is not as though he has hired a backyard lawyer keen on trying his or her luck. No, he has hired one of the biggest law firms on the West Coast: Bullivant, Houser, Bailey PC. Now the question that comes to my inquisitive mind is, whether he is acting alone or whether some other force representing the ‘matrix control system’, is supporting this from behind the scenes.
In looking further at the site in question, Sott I discovered that they are also being heavily censored by Google. What is it about Sott that causes the system to try and close them down? I don't know, but from what I have seen and read there over the last few days, it is a site that sincerely tries to get to the truth of things and does a lot of research on a wide range of topics.
Asking questions is what should be encouraged and any attempt to clamper down on the freedom of speech should be vehemently fought by all who cherish it. We have seen quite a bit of noise from the powers that be, that they wish to control the flow of information. Of course under the excuse of national security. I could easily say about this case that it doesn’t concern me, as I am not the one being sued, but if that is the attitude we as bloggers and internet sleuths have, then there will be no one to stand up for us when they try to close us down.
As pastor Martin Niemoeller said in 1943:
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
So I close this post with the press release of the law suit that came out yesterday, and a rallying cry for every blogger and person who loves free speech to spread this news release and to support the accused in this case. This is one case where we need to stand together, shoulder to shoulder with those who are being targeted, sott.net and make our voices heard!
Free Speech On Internet Under Threat
International lawsuit filed in Oregon threatens Internet forums and bloggers.
SOTT.net - March 11, 2008
(PRNewsChannel) / Toulouse, France - First Amendment rights and free speech on the Internet are under threat as Internet news web site Signs of the Times (SOTT.net) today announced that its founder, Laura Knight-Jadczyk, a resident of France, is being sued in an Oregon court by 'Higher Balance Institute' (HBI), owned by Eric Pepin and based in Oregon.
HBI markets metaphysical products and claims to sell "the world's most advanced sixth sense meditation" program and a dietary supplement, "Magneurol6-S," that is guaranteed to make the consumer an "instant telepath." Pepin claims that users of his "psychic pill" find that "extended wireless phone use can cause discomfort." Consequently, they suggest "limiting the use of cell phones."
SOTT.net is an international, user driven alternative news site with volunteer editorial staffing around the globe. Quantum Future Group, Inc.(QFG), a California non-profit created by mathematician-physicist, Arkadiusz Jadczyk and Laura Knight-Jadczyk to fund independent researchers engaged in collecting social and historical data for mathematical systems analysis, is also named in the suit as defendant despite the fact that QFG does not own SOTT.net, nor does it have any controlling interest in the site.
HBI alleges in the suit filed by Bullivant Houser Bailey, PC, Portland, that the operators of SOTT.net "published false and defamatory statements" regarding HBI and Eric Pepin on the SOTT Web site forum. Pepin is seeking approximately $4.5 million in damages.
The suit stems from information posted on the SOTT.net forums [1] where globally based forum participants uncovered and reposted public-domain information and newspaper records showing that Pepin had recently faced numerous sexual abuse charges in an Oregon court involving a child and former employee of HBI. A grand jury found enough evidence to indict Pepin who admitted in court to having sexual relations with his employees. According to The Oregonian newspaper[2] Judge Steven L. Price, who presided over the case, stated that it was "probable that the conduct alleged in all counts occurred," but that the absence of a date stamp on a video proving that the events occurred while the complainant was still a minor meant that the allegations could not be proven 'beyond a reasonable doubt'. Judge Price was therefore obligated to acquit.
In response to the HBI suit, Laura Knight-Jadczyk, founder of SOTT.net and named as a defendant, said "This is an attack on freedom of speech, plain and simple. The issues SOTT.net are concerned with - the pathology of power and conspiracies among those in power - are specifically targeted in the suit. A victory for Pepin, considering the international nature of this suit, would therefore set a dangerous precedent in US courts and carry serious implications for Internet freedom of speech and ultimately civil liberties everywhere."
SOTT.net is requesting that all those with an interest in safeguarding Internet freedom of speech make an effort to ensure that this information reaches the widest audience possible.
For more information visit SOTT.net:
[1] http://www.sott.net/signs/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1360&p=1
[2] http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2007/05/leader_of_washington_county_in.html
About SOTT.net: Founded in 2002, Signs of The Times (SOTT.net) is an alternative news research resource and news analysis site.
Media contact: sott@sott.net http://www.sott.net
This press release was issued by PRNewsChannel.com. For more information, please visit http://www.prnewschannel.com
Source: SOTT.net
