ScienTOMogy

New Zealand webmaster Glen Stollery created scientomogy.info in July 2005, after Tom Cruise appeared on The Today Show in an interview speaking about "the dangers of prescription drugs," and following the incident where he jumped the couch over his love for Katie Holmes during an interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show. The site's stated goal was "exposing Tom Cruise's moronic behavior in his relentless crusade to promote the Church of Scientology."{{cite news | last =Martelle | first =Scott | title =Mock them using another name; Scientology lawyers order website devoted to ridiculing Cruise to stop using domain name scienTOMogy.info. | work =Los Angeles Times | pages =Calendar Desk; Part E; Pg. 10

| date =October 19, 2005 }}

The site was mainly used to store parody and satire material, including depictions of Cruise and Holmes in straitjackets, as well as a video showing Cruise shooting lightning at Oprah Winfrey.{{cite news | last =Farrell | first =Nick | title =Tom Cruise site shut by Scientologists: Too close to Holmes | work =The Inquirer | publisher =Incisive Media Investments Ltd. 2007 | date =21 October 2005 }} To clarify its position as a parody site, ScienTOMogy contained a disclaimer, which it requested that the reader "understand and agree to..before continuing." The site's disclaimer stated: "Obviously www.scienTOMogy.info has ABSOLUTELY NO connection whatsoever with the Church of Scientology, {{sic|i|t’s}} affiliated organizations or, needless-to-say, Tom Cruise. It is designed for commentary and criticism within the limits of Free Speech. All content should be treated as opinion and all trademarks/copyrighted material herein are owned by their respective trademark owners. The Scientology site is here. Thank you. You may continue.." On the site, a fake Cruise claims that the Church of Scientology should refer to itself as "ScienTOMogy" instead of Scientology, in order to clear up public relations problems.{{cite news | last =Dickison | first =Cynthia | title =the dish; Science fiction | work =Star Tribune | pages =Page 11F | publisher =Star Tribune Co. | date =October 21, 2005 }} The parody version of Cruise states "It's kind of like the word gummy bears. Bears by themselves are scary, but if you just add the word gummy to it, it now becomes a fun, enjoyable treat."

The Web site drew media attention when the Church of Scientology's attorneys Moxon & Kobrin contacted Stollery, claiming the ScienTOMogy domain name was an infringement of their trademark, despite being a different word by one letter.{{cite news | last =Walls | first =Jeannette | title =Scientologists not amused by Cruise spoof | work =Today.com | publisher =2007 Today.com | date =October 17, 2005 | url =https://www.today.com/popculture/scientologists-not-amused-cruise-spoof-wbna9546089 | access-date = 2007-11-01}}{{cite news | last =Staff attorneys | first =Berkman Center for Internet & Society | author-link =Berkman Center for Internet & Society | title =Scientology objects to "ScienTOMogy" | work = Chilling Effects | url =http://www.chillingeffects.org/domain/notice.cgi?NoticeID=2336 | access-date = 2007-11-01}}{{cite news | last =Staff | title =Religion, The Donald And Yellow Teeth | work =The Daily News-Record | date =October 27, 2005 }}{{cite news | last =Staff | title =Features: Show Buzz | work =Liverpool Echo | pages = Page 3| date =October 21, 2005 }} In September 2005, the Church of Scientology issued a cease and desist order to Stollery demanding he shut down the site and transfer ownership to the Church, threatening him with a $100,000 lawsuit. The Church's law firm stated that "ScienTOMogy" would cause a likelihood of confusion with "Scientology," violating the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. 1125(a).{{cite web | title = Spoof site faces religious lawsuit | url = http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411419/620780 | publisher = TVNZ | date = 2005-10-19 | access-date = 2007-10-30 }} The Church of Scientology's letter stated: "You are hereby on notice that the registration and use of this domain name in this fashion has caused your name to be falsely associated with our client’s registered mark, SCIENTOLOGY..The fact that you have changed one letter..does not protect you from trademark infringement." Helena Kobrin, a lawyer for the Church of Scientology, was quoted as saying: "You can't use somebody's trademark, regardless of what you're saying, if you haven't been given permission."

The site responded with a statement: "The site is purely satirical and is for entertainment. It contains no fact nor claims to do so. The site clearly states in its header, 'This site has absolutely no connection whatsoever with the Church of Scientology, {{sic|i|t's}} affiliated organisations or, needless to say, Tom Cruise'."{{cite news | last =Miller | first = Megan | title =Cruising to hit site | work =MX (Melbourne, Australia) | pages =26 | date =October 18, 2005 }} Stollery originally relented and agreed to change the domain name to "passionofcruise.info" on October 13, 2005, which E! News took to be a parody of the film The Passion of the Christ.{{cite news|last=Staff |title=War of Words over Cruise Site |work=Yahoo! Entertainment |publisher=E! Online, Inc. |date=October 19, 2005 |url=http://entertainment.tv.yahoo.com/entnews/eo/20051019/112977654000.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051023004642/http://entertainment.tv.yahoo.com/entnews/eo/20051019/112977654000.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 23, 2005 |access-date=2007-11-01 }}{{cite news | last =Staff | title =Cruise parodist changes Web URL | work =UPI NewsTrack | publisher =United Press International | date =October 20, 2005 }}{{cite news | last =Staff | title =UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News | work =United Press International | date =October 20, 2005 }}

After consulting with his lawyers in October 2005, Stollery responded to the Church with a far more aggressive stance. Now believing the accusation to be completely frivolous, Stollery publicly refused, challenging the Church with: "I'm keeping my domain, see you in court."{{cite news | last =scienTOMogy.info | title =ScienTOMogy Website Tells Church of Scientology "We're Keeping Our Domain. See You in Court" | work =PR.com, published Press Release | date =November 14, 2005 | url =http://www.pr.com/press-release/4060 | access-date = 2007-11-01}} Again in an interview with ONE News, Stollery reiterated that he was going to retain rights to "ScienTOMogy", and not transfer the URL to the Church of Scientology, as they had requested. After the media attention, Stollery said he began to receive "annoying calls" from local Scientologists.{{cite news|last=Staff |title=The Fix: Cruisin' for a legal bruisin' |work=Salon |publisher=2007 Salon Media Group, Inc. |date=October 17, 2005 |url=http://dir.salon.com/story/ent/col/fix/2005/10/17/mon/index.html |access-date=2007-11-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307022221/http://dir.salon.com/story/ent/col/fix/2005/10/17/mon/index.html |archive-date=March 7, 2008 }} "The first few I was stupid enough to answer, but now they just call and call and call. When I did speak to 'a church member here in Auckland' he kept insisting over and over that we meet to talk about my 'vendetta' with the church."

The threats gave the Web site a cult following of its own, taking its normal traffic from one hundred hits per day to one million in a matter of hours.{{cite news | last =Meyers | first =Michelle | title =Scientology spoof site has its own cult following | work =CNET News | publisher =CNET Networks, Inc. | date =October 20, 2005 | url =http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-5903171-7.html | access-date = 2007-11-01 }} The Wall Street Journal carried reports commenting on the irony of the situation, noting the site's message that the press exposure due to the threats from the Church of Scientology had increased its traffic over tenfold.{{cite news | last =Staff | title =Tony & Tacky: Risky Business | work =The Wall Street Journal | publisher =2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. | date =October 21, 2005 }} Mel Gibson has not raised objections to use of the parody term "PassionofCruise". E! News reported that though Stollery had originally agreed to take down the site, it was still running and accessible as of July 2006, when the United Nations' World Intellectual Property Organization awarded Cruise rights to the domain name "TomCruise.com" over claims of a cybersquatter.{{cite news|last=Hall |first=Sarah |title=Tom Cruise in Dot Command |work=E! News |publisher=2007 E! Entertainment Television, Inc. |date=July 24, 2006 |url=http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=a49dd27b-c6c8-4377-9228-1b8dba55ddca&page=2 |access-date=2007-11-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214171126/http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=a49dd27b-c6c8-4377-9228-1b8dba55ddca&page=2 |archive-date=February 14, 2012 }}

In addition to hosting the original cease and desist letter, the Berkman Center for Internet & Society also gives legal commentary on various issues pertaining to the "ScienTOMogy" controversy at a page provided by the organization Chilling Effects. They discuss "trademark tarnishment", which may occur if a non-owner of a trademark uses the work in an "activity that is likely to offend the average person." However, the page also notes that the tarnishment would be non-actionable if the usage was non-commercial or parody. The Church of Scientology has not since filed a lawsuit or opened litigation on "Scientomogy," and the site scientomogy.info no longer exists except in archives.{{cite web|url=http://www.scientomogy.info:80/ |title=Welcome to Scientomogy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050808005659/http://www.scientomogy.info/ |archive-date=August 8, 2005 |url-status=dead }}

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{{wikinews|has=news on this topic| Interview with Glen Stollery of ScienTOMogy.info| Tom Cruise parody site defiant in face of Scientology threats, demands its day in court| Church of Scientology does not see humor in website dedicated to Tom Cruise| Tom Cruise debates psychiatry on NBC's Today show}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050808005659/http://www.scientomogy.info/ ScienTOMogy.info] (via archive.org)
• [http://www.chillingeffects.org/domain/notice.cgi?NoticeID=2336 Scientology objects to "ScienTOMogy"], Original cease and desist letter from the Church of Scientology hosted at Chilling Effects, with legal commentary from the Berkman Center for Internet & Society

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Category:New Zealand comedy websites

Category:Critics of Scientology

Category:Scientology and the Internet

Category:Internet properties established in 2005

Category:Tom Cruise