A group representing L. Ron Hubbard asked the Copyright Office to alter a repair exemption that makes it legal to hack Scientology's E-Meter—and lots of other electronics, too.
The organization that represents Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard’s works has petitioned the U.S. government to restrict the right to repair a religious artifact called an E-Meter. This device is core to Scientology practices but the group argues exemptions allowing device hacking should not apply to equipment restricted to trained users. Experts believe the E-Meter is the targeted device, which the Church says requires specific Scientologist operation. Documentation shows the E-Meter updater software mandates registration, including a membership number, suggesting repair restrictions. The language used in the petition matches stipulations Scientology requires for E-Meter use and purchase agreements. In short, the Church appears to be attempting to prevent independent E-Meter repair or experimentation through copyright exemption restrictions.
This is terrible news, because Scientology holds an absurd amount of power for a trashy cult/scam organization, it’s not impossible that they could effectively attack this, given there is enough will within the curch.
If you were looking for another reason to hate Scientology. Behold.
They’re scared people are going to find out it’s just a repurposed “stress” test machine from one of the thousand defunct malls in America. Or for what it really is, just a box filled with bullshit.
Well now, let’s not disparage the insides of a bullshit machine; I got a discounted “ghost detector” on eBay, the insides are an antenna and a low frequency electric field detector… if you forget about the outside “ghosts” part, it makes for a decent live wire detector (oh noes, there’s ghosts in my walls! /s).
I used it to found out which way to plug an unpolarized box fan plug into an unpolarized socket, so it doesn’t keep the motor hooked to live all the time.
If we could see the insides of the “e-meter”, who knows what practical uses could be found for it!
Scientologists claim that in the hands of a trained operator, the meter can indicate whether a person has been relieved from the spiritual impediment of past experiences.[42] In accordance with a 1974 federal court order, the Church of Scientology asserts that the E-meter is intended for use only in church-sanctioned auditing sessions; it is not a curative or medical device.[43] The E-meters used by the Church were previously manufactured by Scientologists at their Gold Base facility,[44] but now are manufactured in Hong Kong and Taiwan.[44]
New religious movement scholar Douglas Cowan writes that Scientologists cannot progress along the Bridge to Total Freedom without an E-meter, and that Hubbard even told Scientologists to buy two E-meters, in the event that one of them fails to operate.[27] According to anthropologist Roy Rappaport, the E-meter is a ritual object, an object that “stand[s] indexically for something intangible”.[50]
They don’t want their follower to repair the device, they want them to keep buying them. Also, they probably afraid that some of their follower would mod the meter to output high reading to clear the audit. lmao.
What’s funny is that one reading on a person could be wildly different than the next. If all it is reading is minute charges on a person’s skin, you could just change locations and drastically impact the readings.
Of course, this is why “highly trained professionals” perform these “audits”
I think this is a more subtle question than it appears on the surface, especially if you don’t think of it as a one-off.
Whether or not Scientology deserves to be called a “religion,” it’s a safe bet there will be new religions with varying levels of legitimacy popping up in the future. And chances are some of them will have core beliefs that are related to the technology of the day, because it would be weird if that weren’t the case. “Swords” and “plowshares” are technological artifacts, after all.
Leaving aside the specific case of Scientology, the question becomes, how do laws that apply to classes of technology interact with laws that treat religious practices as highly protected activities? We’ve seen this kind of question come up in the context of otherwise illegal drugs that are used in traditional rituals. But religious-tech questions seem like they could have a bunch of unique wrinkles.
You make a good point in general, but this particular case is about preventing non-scientologists from treating the ‘religious object’ devices how they will, not about the scientologists being at all restricted in their own handling of the objects (as would be comparable to illegal drugs or animal sacrifice used in religious rituals).
This case in particular is comparable to requesting that the government outlaw the modification or destruction of the Bible or Qoran, even by people who own their own copy of a religious text. It would require non-adherants to a religion to treat that religion’s objects as sacred and to do so in the specific manner prescribed by that religion. This is contrary to precedent and law established by cases against people who’ve burnt their own personal copies of the bible, or created derivative works making fun of the bible, and so on.
You are not logged in. However you can subscribe from another Fediverse account, for example Lemmy or Mastodon. To do this, paste the following into the search field of your instance: !technology@beehaw.org
A nice place to discuss rumors, happenings, innovations, and challenges in the technology sphere. We also welcome discussions on the intersections of technology and society. If it’s technological news or discussion of technology, it probably belongs here.
Remember the overriding ethos on Beehaw: Be(e) Nice. Each user you encounter here is a person, and should be treated with kindness (even if they’re wrong, or use a Linux distro you don’t like). Personal attacks will not be tolerated.
This is terrible news, because Scientology holds an absurd amount of power for a trashy cult/scam organization, it’s not impossible that they could effectively attack this, given there is enough will within the curch.
If the device is a religious artifact, just tell your followers its sacriledge to crack one open. If thst doesn’t work, just admit you’re a scam
Why not both? Cover all your bases.
“If you open this device, the contained alien immediately escapes, rendering it inert.” There. Problem solved. Case dismissed.
The right to repair - countered by the right to hustle.
Scared to find out it’s as useful as a pet rock!
If you were looking for another reason to hate Scientology. Behold.
They’re scared people are going to find out it’s just a repurposed “stress” test machine from one of the thousand defunct malls in America. Or for what it really is, just a box filled with bullshit.
Well now, let’s not disparage the insides of a bullshit machine; I got a discounted “ghost detector” on eBay, the insides are an antenna and a low frequency electric field detector… if you forget about the outside “ghosts” part, it makes for a decent live wire detector (oh noes, there’s ghosts in my walls! /s).
I used it to found out which way to plug an unpolarized box fan plug into an unpolarized socket, so it doesn’t keep the motor hooked to live all the time.
If we could see the insides of the “e-meter”, who knows what practical uses could be found for it!
If the Church owns all of them then what’s the big deal? Don’t mess with someone else’s property.
In other news, religions ask to restrict the right to repair idiocity
“right to repair idiocity” please elaborate.
I think OP meant it as
What you gonna repair it for? It’s not like it’s gonna work
deleted by creator
I hear you. It doesn’t do anything in the first place. How the fuck can it be broken?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter
They don’t want their follower to repair the device, they want them to keep buying them. Also, they probably afraid that some of their follower would mod the meter to output high reading to clear the audit. lmao.
What’s funny is that one reading on a person could be wildly different than the next. If all it is reading is minute charges on a person’s skin, you could just change locations and drastically impact the readings.
Of course, this is why “highly trained professionals” perform these “audits”
Has no one ever taken one surreptitiously and dismantled it? Like ever?
They’re patented (or were, at least) how they generally work is public knowledge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter#Functional_description
This seems to be more a matter of the device refusing to update without credentials that are generally unobtainable.
I think this is a more subtle question than it appears on the surface, especially if you don’t think of it as a one-off.
Whether or not Scientology deserves to be called a “religion,” it’s a safe bet there will be new religions with varying levels of legitimacy popping up in the future. And chances are some of them will have core beliefs that are related to the technology of the day, because it would be weird if that weren’t the case. “Swords” and “plowshares” are technological artifacts, after all.
Leaving aside the specific case of Scientology, the question becomes, how do laws that apply to classes of technology interact with laws that treat religious practices as highly protected activities? We’ve seen this kind of question come up in the context of otherwise illegal drugs that are used in traditional rituals. But religious-tech questions seem like they could have a bunch of unique wrinkles.
You make a good point in general, but this particular case is about preventing non-scientologists from treating the ‘religious object’ devices how they will, not about the scientologists being at all restricted in their own handling of the objects (as would be comparable to illegal drugs or animal sacrifice used in religious rituals).
This case in particular is comparable to requesting that the government outlaw the modification or destruction of the Bible or Qoran, even by people who own their own copy of a religious text. It would require non-adherants to a religion to treat that religion’s objects as sacred and to do so in the specific manner prescribed by that religion. This is contrary to precedent and law established by cases against people who’ve burnt their own personal copies of the bible, or created derivative works making fun of the bible, and so on.
Fuck 'em. 'Nuff said.
If this passes, smartphone manufacturers are going to register their devices as religious artifacts
Hmm… so thats why they say, Apple is a religion 🤔
it’s basically just a multimeter that can only measure resistance…