Tilman Hausherr
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| Tilman Hausherr | |
| Born: | 1965 Germany |
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| Occupation: | software developer, writer |
| Nationality: | German |
| Genres: | computer programming, cult critic |
| Subjects: | Scientology, Relational database management system |
| Website: | http://www.xenu.de/ |
This article forms part of a series on Scientology |
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Concepts
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Tilman Hausherr (born 1965) is a German citizen living in Berlin, Germany. He is a software developer and the author of the popular software, Xenu's Link Sleuth; he is also well known for his criticism of Scientology.
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[edit] Tech sector
Aside from his work as a software designer, Hausherr has contributed to the magazine Berliner Dialog, published until 2005 by the non-profit organization Dialog Zentrum Berlin e.V.[1][2][3].
Sources credit Hausherr for coining the term "Sporgery" in the Usenet newsgroup alt.religion.scientology, to which he is a regular contributor.[4] Sporging refers to internet attacks which not only spam a forum with offensive posts but also libel regular users by forging their names.
Hausherr's Xenu's Link Sleuth software was called the "fastest link-checking software" by PC Magazine[5].
[edit] Scientology critic
Hausherr has been described as a "critic of Scientology".[6], and an "anti cult-figure"[7] He maintains a website with material related to Scientology, including the "Scientology celebrities FAQ", as well as the "FAQ: Scientology in Germany" (2001), which was cited as a reference by Salon.com.[8] In the FAQ about German Scientology, Hausherr reveals details about Scientology's legal and political status there, its demographics, finances, key figures, and reception by the german populace, as well as qualifies the reliability of selected rumors about both Scientology and its critics. [9]
In 1998, Scientology sent a letter to Hausherr, telling him to remove altered Scientology images from his Web site.[10] Parody alterations included changing the Scientology "S" to a dollar sign, as well as elongating the nose of the president of the organization, an image intended to evoke comparison to Pinocchio.[10] In the course of the dispute Compuserve, which was hosting the pages and altered images, blocked his website for TOS violation.[11] Hausherr had maintained that his altering of the images showed that they were a fair use parody.[10]
[edit] References
- ^ Berliner Dialog 1/2000
- ^ Berliner Dialog Article by Tilman Hausherr, "Helnwein und Scientology"
- ^ Berliner Dialog all existing issues 1995-2005
- ^ Attack of the Robotic Poets, ZDNet, by Kevin Poulsen, May 06, 1999.
- ^ "70 assists for a winning site.(WEB BUILDER'S TOOLKIT)", PC Magazine, April 23, 2002.
- ^ Kent, Stephen A. (September 2003). "Scientology and the European Human Rights Debate: A Reply to Leisa Goodman, J. Gordon Melton, and the European Rehabilitation Project Force Study". Marburg Journal of Religion 8 (1).
- ^ Hexham, Irving; Karla Poewe (April 1999). "“Verfassungsfeindlich”: Church, State, And New Religions In Germany". Nova Religio 2 (2): 208-227.
- ^ Hudson, David., Scientology's "Holocaust" : Is Hollywood on the wrong side in Germany's "Church" vs. state furor?, Salon.com, February 25, 1997
- ^ FAQ: Scientology in Germany. The homepage of Tilman Hausherr. Retrieved on 2007-03-25.
- ^ a b c Macavinta, Courtney. "Scientologists in trademark disputes", CNET News, January 29, 1998. (in English)
- ^ Zehnder, Matthias W.. "Extremismus im Internet", Birkhäuser Verlag, 1998. (in german)
