Amazon's snap decision to ban two books in the face of legal threats seemingly contradicts the high-minded free-speech ideals the company often spouts. [Wired]

Feature story concentrates on Keith Henson's misdemeanor conviction for picketing Scientology, and airs the belief that the Church of Scientology considers critics and ex-members to be "fair game" for harassment and injury. [L.A. Weekly]

Editorial. In France, in Germany, in the United States, the Church of Scientology has been recognized as a dangerous sect. In dismissing the Justice Ministry's suit, the court has said, in effect, that slavery is perfectly legal in Russia. [Pravda]

Special report. Series of investigative articles about the Church of Scientology. Includes videos, responses from the Church, links to more recent related articles. [St. Petersburg Times]

David Miscavige, the seldom-seen leader of the church, comes forth in his first newspaper interview to talk of a more peaceful time for Scientology. [St. Petersburg Times]

Tom Jarriel talks with both insiders and critics, but Scientology comes off looking very bad. Transcript. [ABC 20/20]

Profile of a longtime Hollywood Scientologist who left the Church, convinced that its leaders were lying. [The New Yorker]

Private detectives employed by Scientology law firm Moxon and Kobrin trailed critic Jesse Prince for months before succeeding in getting him arrested. [Tampa Tribune]

In the online brawl over Scientology, Internet users discover that virtual reality bites back. [Westword]

Geek paradise Slashdot has taken the unprecedented step of removing a post which contained text allegedly copyrighted by the "Church" of Scientology, after receiving threats from Hubbard Space Command shysters citing the dreaded Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). [The Register]

Ron Hubbard was dead but the Scientologists were still out to make their mark on the world. Starting with unauthorized biographer Russell Miller. [Punch]

Is Hollywood on the wrong side in Germany's "Church" vs. state furor? [Salon.com]

The Church of Scientology used the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to strong-arm search engine Google into removing several pages of anti-Scientology site xenu.net from search results and directory. [Slashdot]

Jurors in a misdemeanor case against Jesse Prince, a critic of the Church of Scientology, were unable to reach a verdict after some on the panel suspected the church had set him up. The vote was deadlocked at 4-2 in favor of acquittal. [Associated Press]

The German government is examining whether a utility developed by a Scientologist would prohibit public agencies from installing Windows 2000. [Wired]

Judge rules that Dr. David Minkoff illegally prescribed Valium and chloral hydrate to Lisa McPherson at the behest of fellow Scientologists, and recommends a $10,000 fine and one-year license suspension. [Tampa Tribune]

A book removed from Amazon's site because of alleged legal troubles is now among the top 150 books sold by the online bookstore. [Wired]

Church of Scientology International threatens to sue two sites critical of it, on grounds of alleged trademark and copyright violations. [CNET news.com]

Search engine Google caved in to demands from the "Church" of Scientology that it delete URLs pointing to a site critical of the cult. [The Register]

The Church of Scientology alleged that an anonymous comment violated their copyright. Under the terms of the DMCA, Slashdot was forced to remove the offending post--but listed links to many anti-Scientology sites. Readers responded with more than 1500 comments. [Slashdot]

The Church of Scientology has completed the latest in a series of land purchases that will help clear the way for its downtown expansion project. [St. Petersburg Times]

The self-styled addiction "experts" at Scientology front group Narconon stole graphics, navigation, stylesheets, layout, code, everything, from a popular rave web site. . . and added a rat-on-your-friends form. [The Register]

The Advertising Standards Authority has upheld a complaint against the Church of Scientology. The ASA ruled that Scientology had not proven its claim to have rescued hundreds of thousands of drug addicts. [Daily Telegraph]