Why does Meryl Dorey fear free speech?

For the past several weeks Meryl Dorey of the Australian Vaccination Network has been engaged in a campaign of revenge again me for speaking out against her deceptive, fraudulent and misleading practices. It began in August with a few blog posts on the AVNs website titled “Dossier of Attacks on the AVN” where Meryl attempts to hurt her critics by posting complaints we’ve made against her.

However unlike Meryl Dorey the truth doesn’t hurt us; because we’re right while she is proven repeatedly to be in the wrong. So “exposing” us by posting content we freely make available ourselves doesn’t cause us any damage. It would appear that Meryl Dorey is baffled by this as she is constantly trying to cover-up her own actions, while her critics apparently have no need to cover theirs.

No doubt frustrated that her attacks were having such little effect Meryl Dorey decided to up her campaign against me and go after my Facebook account with the intention of censoring me from the “Stop the AVN” page despite the fact that she is not an admin there. To do this she takes advantage of the fact that Facebook has an automated complaints system that does not ask questions.

That’s right just those two posts got me banned from all of Facebook for 24hours. The posts were on a Skeptics Facebook page not the AVN, but obviously they were seen by either Meryl Dorey or one of her supporters. I should point out that this can be done by anyone without any oversight from Facebook.

Of course she won’t stop there, not while she has crime (Perjury in the United States) and misdeeds to cover up. So when I posted a link to my blog on the Stop the AVN Facebook wall (A page Meryl has no ownership or admin claims to) it didn’t take long for her to pounce and hit the report button.

So once more Meryl Dorey has succeeded in censoring me, this all seems a little desperate. Meryl Dorey likes to bang on about how great freedom of speech is, yet she will do anything she can to prevent it.

Fortunately another Skeptic was on the case.

But this reposting was removed twice and I suspect Belinda was likely banned from Facebook after having two complaints filed.

Then another person decided to post my blog directly on the AVN’s Facebook wall. I’m sure the anti-vaxxers would not have been amused by this, but then again the truth always was offensive to them.

Actually the truth can be found by reading the link that appears on the SAVN wall. You don’t find the truth through censorship and suppression of information. Of course those with everything to hide have to choice but to engage in censorship campaigns because the truth is ultimately their undoing.

The user “Skeptic Militia” was kind enough to email me the Facebook takedown notices they received. Along with the resulting ban.

Gee wouldn’t want someone to make it known that they have evidence now would we?

I’m no psychiatrist but Meryl Dorey seems to be getting quite desperate to censor her critics. Although this type of behaviour isn’t new, the AVN is known to abuse, harass and accuse people of child rape if they don’t fall into line with the anti-vaccination ideology. Just for the record Meryl Dorey has stated that she refuses to stop using the rape accusation.

This woman runs a registered “charity”.

So far at least 5 Facebook posts on the Stop the AVN Facebook page that includes a link to:  https://www.danbuzzard.net/journal/how-meryl-dorey-lied-under-oath.html have been removed due to vexatious automated complains. Her insane determination to see the post censored has motivated me to contact the San Fransisco District Attorney’s office to find out if anything can be done in regards to Meryl Dorey lying under oath. Originally it was just going to be a blog post but after such a hostile responce I think it’s worth at least exploring the options since she’s clearly rattled by it.

I also just got word from Facebook that this image has been reported as abusive.

Meryl is due in court on Thursday. So it probably wouldn’t be good for her if someone were to use the above screenshot as a demonstration of her lack of respect for the judicial system. Suggesting the courts may be Bias if they don’t agree with you is unlikely to win any friends.

If anybody has screen shots of warning messages they’ve receive from Facebook. I request that they forward them to me via email: Dan@danscomp.net It would be much appreciated.

While I have no problem with people simply using words. It seems that the anti-vaxxers are determined to go to any length to silence criticism. That includes getting their critics disconnected from Facebook and as a consequence disconnected from friends and family who have come to rely on Facebook (despite my protest) as their primary form of communication.

I have stated previously that I would never sue anyone for their words, and my preferred “weapon” (For lack of a better word) is my blog loaded with yet more words that can address any misinformation stated about me. However now that my opponents are taking action beyond just words and attempting to influence a negative impact upon myself, my friends and family I feel that litigation may be the justified course of action. So far Meryl Dorey has succeeded in disconnecting me from my contracts twice, an online equivalent of cutting my phone line. She has also succeeded in censoring me from Stop the AVNs Facebook page, which she is not an admin and no body at SAVN has decided they want me gone. It is not Meryls place to decide that I should be censored from another person’s plat form, by abusing Facebook’s automated systems she has done just that.

I am concerned that this type of censorship will only increase if it is not stopped. Of course this is only the latest in a long list of attacks against critics.

So far Meryl Dorey has deployed the following tactics against her critics.

  • Blogging – Nothing wrong with this, she’s entitled to her words as are her critics.
  • False DMCA Complaints – She has committed a crime (perjury) under the laws of the United States in order to have her critics censored.
  • Apprehended Violence Orders – She is attempting to obtain restraining orders against her critics including myself, without serving any summons. I may not be a lawyer but I’m reasonably certain that you need to follow correct serving procedures.

  • Making false complaints to Facebook – This results in her victims being disconnected not only from Stop the AVN but also all their Friends and Family who rely on Facebook.
  • Harassment – Meryl Dorey and her followers have engaged in a harassment campaign against grieving parents whose daughter died of whooping cough.

I am becoming increasingly concerned for the safety of people within the Skeptical community because while the anti-vaxxers have historically never posed a direct physical threat. The Australian Vaccination Network in particular it’s president Meryl Dorey appear to be getting more and more desperate to silence critics as time goes on. Perhaps the realisation that the truth hurts only them and not us is prompting them to look for methods beyond just words for silencing their critics.

How Meryl Dorey lied under oath.

Meryl Dorey, the president of the Australian Vaccination Network has lied under oath and I have the evidence to prove this. Meryl Dorey sought to remove a government letter from the internet in an effort to avoid some well deserved criticism. Here is a copy of a DMCA notice that she filed to have the following document removed from the internet: Letter from the OLGR revoking the AVNs charity status.

This is the complaint she filed:

*** BEGIN DMCA NOTIFICATION ***

Pursuant to 17 USC 512(c)(3)(A), this communication serves as a statement that:

I am the exclusive rights holder for material held at http://www.avn.org.au and

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Australian-Vaccination-Network/55142201924?v=wall&ref=mf;

These exclusive rights are being violated by material available upon your site at the following URL(s):

[http://www.scribd.com/doc/51133133/OLGR-Letter-to-AVN-Advising-of-Revocation-14-10-10];

I have a good faith belief that the use of this material in such a fashion is not authorized by the copyright holder, the copyright holder’s agent, or the law;

Under penalty of perjury in a United States court of law, I state that the information contained in this notification is accurate, and that I am authorized to act on the behalf of the exclusive rights holder for the material in question;

I may be contacted by the following methods (include all): Australian Vaccination Network, PO Box 177, BANGALOW NSW 2479, AUSTRALIA; Phone – 612 6687 1699 – FAX 612 6678 0894 – Mobile 61414 872 032 – email meryl@avn.org.au

I hereby request that you remove or disable access to this material as it appears on your service in as expedient a fashion as possible. Thank you.

Regards,

Meryl Wynn Dorey

Meryl Dorey,

Spokesperson

The Australian Vaccination Network, Inc.

[I omitted her absurdy long signature]

*** END DMCA NOTIFICATION ***

The result of this notice is that Ken McLeod who had originally uploaded the document to Scribd received a notice stating that the content had been removed.

Hello, ken_mcleod —

We have removed your document, “OLGR Letter to AVN Advising of Revocation 14-10-10” (id: 51133133) in response to a third-party notification or other indicia that this document was uploaded to Scribd.com without the authorization of the copyright owner. If you believe the removal of this document is the result of a mistake or misidentification, please visit our Scribd Support Desk to access the instructions for providing a counter-notification.

For more information, read about our Copyright Management System or contact us through copyright@scribd.com.

Please note that under Section 512(f) of the Copyright Act, any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that content was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification may be subject to liability. Please also be advised that we enforce our policy that provides for the termination of users who are identified as repeat infringers.

Thanks for your cooperation.

-Scribd Customer Care

So Meryl’s complaint resulted in the removal of the document. She swore under penalty of perjury that the complaint was true and accurate, not only that but she also consented to the jurisdiction of the United States. The problem with this is that her complaint wasn’t valid and she therefore has committed an offense within the United States.

Scribd, Inc.

Attn: Jason Bentley, Copyright Agent

539 Bryant St, Suite 200

San Francisco, CA 94107

Dear Mr. Bentley:

This letter is a formal response to a claim of copyright infringement against one or more of the documents that I’ve uploaded and published on Scribd.com. I believe the claims of copyright infringement are wrong and vexatious and should be rejected because:

1. The material in question is not copyrighted. The letter which I posted was from an Australian government department, (The New South Wales Office of Liquor Gaming and Racing) reporting its findings of their investigation of a fraudulent “charity”, the so-called “Australian Vaccination Network” and its Public Officer, Ms Meryl Dorey, who I believe to be your complainant. The letter is a public document, and was first posted by Meryl Dorey on her Scribd account. Indeed, the letter and all the other material has been lodged in the New South Wales Supreme Court as part of the Discovery process, see the attached Court Lisiting. It is therefore in the public domain and may be reproduced by anyone.

2. The complainant has provided no copyright registration information or other tangible evidence that the material in question is in fact copyrighted, and I have a good faith belief that it is not. The allegation of copyright violation is therefore in dispute, and at present unsupported.

3. The complainant does not hold the copyright to the material in question, is not the designated representative of the copyright holder, and therefore lacks standing to assert that my use of the material is a violation of any of the owner’s rights. If copyright ownership was to be asserted by anyone, it would have been asserted by the author, and it was not.

4, My use of the material is legally protected because it falls within the “fair use” provision of the copyright regulations, as defined in 17 USC 107. The “fair use” provisions allow for reproduction for the purposes of reporting, research, satire, and so on, and my post conformed to the Act. If the complainant disagrees that this is fair use, they must work directly with me, though legally viable channels, to resolve the dispute. Ms Dorey and the New South Wales Government have never contacted me to express any concerns they may have. Scribd and its employees under no obligation to settle this dispute, or to take any action to restrict my speech at the behest of this complainant.

5. The complaint does not follow the prescribed form for notification of an alleged copyright violation as set forth in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 USC 512(c)(3). Specifically, the complainant has failed to:

a.. Provide a complaint in written form. [17 USC 512(c)(3)(A)]

b.. Include a physical or electronic signature of the complainant. [17 USC 512(c)(3)(A)(i)]

c.. Identify the specific copyrighted work claimed to be infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works are covered by a single complaint, provide a representative list of such works. [17 USC 512(c)(3)(A)(ii)]

d.. Provide the URLs for the specific files on my web site that are alleged to be infringing. [17 USC 512(c)(3)(A)(iii)]

e.. Provide sufficient information to identify the complainant, including full name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address. [17 USC 512(c)(3)(A)(iv)]

f.. Include a written statement that the complainant has a good faith belief that use of the disputed material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law. [17 USC 512(c)(3)(A)(v)]

g.. Include a written statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complainant is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed. [17 USC 512(c)

(3)(A)(vi)]

6. The complainant Meryl Dorey or her legal representatives, have never contacted me with their concerns, although they have my postal and email address.

7. The complaint is vexatious in that Ms Dorey is embarrassed to have been exposed in breaches of Australian legislation by the letter, and is attempting to prevent evidence from being published. She is attempting to prevent many documents from being published, and I ask that you regard her as a vexatious complainant and ignore her.

This communication to you is a DMCA counter notification letter as defined in 17 USC 512(g)(3):

I declare, under penalty of perjury, that I have a good faith belief that the complaint of copyright violation is based on mistaken information, misidentification of the material in question, or deliberate misreading of the law.

I ask that Scribd, upon receipt of this counter-notification, restore the material in dispute, unless the complainant files suit against me within ten (10) days, pursuant to 17 USC 512(g)(2)(B).

My name, address, and telephone number are:

FULL NAME: Kenneth Vincent McLeod

I hereby consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the San Francisco, California judicial district).

I agree to accept service of process from the complainant.

Best regards,

(the above is the genuine signature of me, Kenneth Vincent McLeod)

This counter notification by Ken McLeod saw the Letter from the OLGR revoking the AVNs charity status restored to the internet by Scribd who were hosting it at the time. Now of course there are many of us hosting this document, ensuring that it will always remain online despite Meryl Doreys best attempts to remove content that is not hers from the Internet. Meryl is so determined to silence her critics that she is prepared to lie under oath. I wonder if she will do the same in a court of law?

Don’t just take my word for it. Here’s the original document of evidence collected by Ken: HERE’S PROOF THAT MERYL DOREY LIED UNDER OATH.

Case Closed…? (Or does the saga continue)

Meryl Doreys ongoing war on health

For the past 17 years Meryl Dorey has been waging a war against public health in Australia. She is the Founder, President and Spokesperson for the Australian Vaccination Network. Despite its name the Australian Vaccination Network is actually an anti-vaccination pressure group that bullies and harasses anyone attempting to protect the community from vaccine preventable disease.

I first crossed paths with Meryl Dorey and the AVN when she decided to come to Perth in 2010 to spread her misinformation. Having already had one venue cancel on her she now set sights on the state library  as the new venue to spread her misinformation. Fearing that the library might cancel their talk Meryl Dorey asked all the subscribers to her newsletter to email the library and urge them not to cancel the talk. She also asked that she have all correspondence sent to the library cc’d to her; obviously some form of ego boosting.  So I sent the library an email  informing them of the harmful misinformation that the Australian Vaccination Network was intending to spread in their venue. As requested I also cc’d the email to Meryl so she could see what I said to the library about her. I believe this action was the start of her loathing towards me.

I also attended her talk at the state library and wrote about it briefly here. I found out later that my presence didn’t go unnoticed. In fact Meryl seemed to be quite upset about having Skeptics present at her talk and decided that we were to blame for increased security measures at the state library.

Buzzard, I was perfectly well aware of your presence and that of your 2 little friends as well.

The library excluded the television cameras – not us. They said that due to the threats they had received from people you associate with, no media were allowed at the seminar.

We welcomed cameras and welcomed your presence too. We hoped that if more people are able to access information from both sides of this issue, they would be better able to make an informed choice about vaccination for their children and for themselves.

Remember Buzzard-you Skeptics are the ones trying to deny others access to both sides of this debate-not the AVN.

Oh, also, we had to pay an extra $100 to the library for extra security due to the threat posed by the Skeptics. Maybe, since you Skeptics are responsible for that expense, you might have one less case of beer this week and instead, donate the funds to the AVN to make up for the extra expense you’ve caused us?

On second thought however, don’t bother. You’ve done our cause a great favour. Because of all the extra publicity due to your group’s ravings, instead of just talking to 100 people in some quiet little church hall, we spoke to twice that many in a gorgeous venue at the state library and have at least that many again who have already expressed interest in our next seminar in Perth so-well done and we’ll call it even.

I do want to ask you though, while we are on this subject, How does it feel to be associated with a group of bullies who force organisations like the State Library and the AVN to have to hire protection just to enable us to exercise our right to free speech? Does it feel good to belong to the thought Gestapo? To be associated with the anti-democracy SS?

Lastly,we have taped the entire seminar and will be publishing it free of charge on the Internet so watch this space. If your own recording was not of good quality, you are free to listen to ours.

Yours in health,
Meryl

Then all of a sudden the Australian Vaccination Network was brought into the spotlight  thanks to a complaint lodged with the New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commission by Ken McLeod. The HCCC conducted an investigation  into the AVN. The HCCC found:

by the Health Care Complaints Commission under section 94A of the Health Care Complaints Act 1993

The Health Care Complaints Commission has investigated two complaints about the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN), a non-profit organisation registered in New South Wales that provides information about vaccination. The complaints alleged that the AVN provides incorrect and misleading information about vaccination.

The Commission’s investigation of the complaints focussed on the material presented by the AVN on its website www.avn.org.au.

The Commission’s investigation established that the AVN website:

  • provides information that is solely anti-vaccination
  • contains information that is incorrect and misleading
  • quotes selectively from research to suggest that vaccination may be dangerous.

On this basis, the Commission recommended to the AVN that it should include a statement in a prominent position on its website to the following effect:

  • The AVN’s purpose is to provide information against vaccination, in order to balance what it believes is the substantial amount of pro-vaccination information available elsewhere.
  • The information provided by the AVN should not be read as medical advice.
  • The decision about whether or not to vaccinate should be made in consultation with a health care provider.

The Commission recognises that it is important for there to be debate on the issue of vaccination. However, the AVN provides information that is inaccurate and misleading.

The AVN’s failure to include a notice on its website of the nature recommended by the Commission may result in members of the public making improperly informed decisions about whether or not to vaccinate, and therefore poses a risk to public health and safety.

–Health Care Complains Commission; NSW

This resulted in the HCCC issuing an official warning against this public health menace. The result of this public health warning was an immediate media backlash against the AVN who were now seen for what they are; a menace to society. With so many media agencies now turning their back on the Australian Vaccination Network, Meryl now went on the offensive and began accusing accusing the media of going on a Witch Hunt.

But it wasn’t over, not by a long shot. Now that the true nature of the AVN and its president was known the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing began to question the legitimacy of the AVNs charity status. It didn’t take long for them to discover the uncharitable nature of the organisation and as a result their license to fundraise was revoked ; a fantastic victory for community health.

A CONTROVERSIAL NSW-based anti-vaccination group has been stripped of its charitable status after the state government found its appeals had not been conducted in good faith.

The Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) was ordered in July to publish a disclaimer on its website stating the group was anti-vaccination and its material shouldn’t be read as medical advice.

On Thursday, the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR) revoked the group’s charitable status on the grounds it had failed to publish the disclaimer as recommended by the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC). –Herald Sun

Then in January of 2011 Meryl Dorey likened vaccination to child rape.

According to Meryl Dorey if you vaccinate your child then you’re a rapist. This is coming from an organisation that claims to be a “charity”.

Meryl Dorey later retuned to Perth. However I didn’t attend this second time. But I was interested to learn the the AVN had engaged in illegal fundraising while over here. Did she think no one would notice if she came to the other side of the country?

During the recent AVN tour of Western Australia, the Caravan of Carnage, Meryl Dorey was handing out flyers. The flyers include details of how one can “donate” to, and/or “become a member” of, the AVN. That these flyers were handed out is a demonstrable fact. We have one. –Reasonable Hank

On par with her Vaccine Rape claim Meryl posted a link of Facebook to an article that calls for the murder  of personnel at the Centres for Disease Control. Again this is from an organisation that claims to be a “charity”.

What an upstanding member of the community.

Meryl Dorey later decided she would speak at the Woodford Folk Festival and once more she asked her subscribers to write to the festival organisers to ensure that she wouldn’t be cancelled. So of course I wrote to the festival to ask them to reconsider giving this public health menace a platform. Once again I included Mery in the cc field.

The AVN sent out a very amusing newsletter criticising her critics. Fair enough but what I found most amusing was her criticism of me.

Their attitude towards religion is every bit as intolerant as it is

towards those who want to make informed vaccination choices. From Dan Buzzard in WA who has a web page entitled Everybody Draw Mohammed which features pictures of the prophet Mohammed doing obscene things and totally denigrating Islam to stating the following about the

Catholic church:

 

Daniel Buzzard 27.3.11 – Fuck the Catholic Church. Who dares me to walk into the Church service with these?

The signs I wanted to take into the church.

Apparently I made some rude remarks about paedophiles, although I am not surprised that an anti-vaxxer would complain about that considering they oppose childhood vaccinations.

Equally funny is Meryl Dorey complaining about having to comply with government regulations

The real villains here are those members of the Australian Skeptics and Stop the AVN who – though they themselves have not been harmed by any of these products, by any of this information or by any of these remedies – intentionally waste the public’s time, money and expertise by pursuing vexatious and absolutely ridiculous complaints. The Skeptics have worked out a way to rort the system by using current legislation to victimise those who they disagree with. And the ones who lose out when this sort of fraud is perpetrated by a group that opposes freedom of choice and speech are the Australian taxpayers. -Meryl Dorey, 28 April 2012nocompulsoryvaccination.com

What sort of “charity” fears government regulators? Well the Australian Vaccination Network for one.

Of course this amount of criticism has over time has prompted Meryl Dorey to go on the offensive. While her critics use only words to address her nonsense, it seems Merl is prepared to go to any length to avoid criticism. That includes committing Perjury in the United States by submitting false complaints under the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act to have her critics post removed from US based service providers, such as Facebook.

She also engaged in a childish revenge activity of registering a similar name to the Australian Skeptics. Honestly this is the type of activity that could be expected from a child; not a “charity” organisation. However this did provide me with an opportunity to report her  to yet another government regulator.

Another attempt to silence Skeptics was made by supporters of the AVN. It would appear the supporters have been falsely reporting Skeptic websites as malware in order to get them blocked by consumer level security software. Fortunately this activity does limited temporary damage, but it’s still an inconvenience to deal with and shows just how desperate AVN supports are to supress information.
I had a new attack was launched against me recently where the Anti-vaxxers go through my Facebook profile and start reporting my posts as abusive. Since Facebook is an automated system no human is involved in the processing of these complaints and I was subsequently banned from Facebook for 24hrs.

That’s right those two innocent posts got me banned from all of Facebook for 24hours. The posts were on a Skeptics Facebook page, but obviously they where seen by either Meryl Dorey or one of her supporters. I should point out again that this can be done by anyone without any oversight from Facebook.

Now Meryl Dorey has launched a fresh series of attack against her critics by setting up a “Dossier of Attacks on the AVN”  where she and her followers criticise her critics. Clearly she is upset by the honesty of her critics; which is why I sent her the Butthurt Report Form. It’s quite pathetic since the most serious offence any of us seem to commit is that we might be rude at times. Quite tame compared to the war she’s be raging against community health all these years. Not to mention the crime of Perjury (false DMCA) she’s been committing in the United States just to silence us.

Now another new attack has emerged this week. In a desperate attempt to silence criticism Mery Dorey is now applying for Apprehended Violence Order against her critics. Of the three applications she’s made one of them is against me. The application is being made in a NSW court, thousands of kilometres away. Not only has Meryl Dorey chosen to file so far away from me but she is also doing it in secret without summoning me to defend myself. I only found out about her application due to a tip-off. Although this type of underhanded tactic doesn’t come as any surprise, I’ve come to expect such actions from dubious individuals. This action is especially ironic comeing from a woman who makes her living from fear and intimidation.

I don’t believe in litigation against anyone just for their words. Because the best weapon against speech is more speech. That’s why the only tools I ever use against Meryl Dorey, The Australian Vaccination Network and other distasteful persons or organisation are only words. So while I would never sue anyone for their words if Meryl wishes to engage in actions beyond words, then I see nothing wrong with pursuing civil action for recovery of legal costs to deal with her nonsense in court.

I have no doubt that Meryl Dorey will continue attacking community health, her critics and anyone who tries to benefit the community. Examination of the Australian Vaccination Networks financial records, show that she makes a comfortable living from her dishonest activities. Finance Report

Dawson Drama Queen vs Trolls.

Charlotte Dawson has been in the news recently for being trolled on the Internet. That’s right just for being trolled this drama queen has generated headline across Australia for her alleged victimisation at the hands of some anonymous twitter users.

While I don’t agree with the actions of the trolls I also find it hard to have too much sympathy for Ms Dawson because she went troll feeding.

There is an old saying that goes back at least as far as the 1980s. “Don’t Feed the Trolls”

On the Internet a “Troll” is a person who attempts to incite an emotional response from others by either posting offensive material or performing an action that causes inconvenience and frustration to other users of the medium in use. The best way to deal with trolls is by NOT giving them exactly what they want so they get bored and leave. As someone who’s been dealing with internet trolls since the 90s I can confirm that this is a tried and proven method for dealing with the issue.

However Charlotte Dawson decided to engage with the trolls instead. First mistake, she has also been retweeting some of the trolls messages to her followers. Honestly what sort of moron thinks it’s a good idea to help spread the trolls’ message as far and wide as you can? These trolls are anonymous; as a result ALL publicity is good publicity.

Of course now the politicians are wetting themselves in excitement as they are now given a new excuse to remove free speech and privacy from the public internet.

HATE-filled Twitter trolls who anonymously taunt, threaten or urge their victims to take their own lives are on notice from today.

Today we launch a campaign to stand up to the faceless bullies and to urge Twitter to unmask them and turn them in to authorities so they can be prosecuted.

…

Kevin Rudd has 1.2 million followers – more than any other federal MP – and he last night committed to the campaign from China with the declaration: “The time has come for us to build a bridge over the trolls.”

Attorney-General Nicola Roxon is also behind the campaign: “Cyber bullying is reprehensible and has no place in our society.

“What we need is strong co-operation from governments, law enforcement and the community. But we also need the assistance of US-based social networks.” –News.com.au

It quickly gets to the point where the persecuted becomes the persecutor. This is where the #StopTheTrolls comes in. The aim is to bully Twitter into disclosing user details so the Australian Government can punish people for what they said online. That’s right; you can be punished for saying something that upsets people.

People not just trolls, often choose to be anonymous on the Internet because they either don’t believe what they say strongly enough to put their name to it. Or because they face serious consequences for speaking out be it government persecution or litigation.

By removing anonymity and punishing trolls all that will happen is the trolls move to more secure form of anonymity and people with a “legitimate” need of anonymity might not have that option available.  Of course what is or is not a “legitimate” use of anonymity is purely subjective.

Terms like ‘Hate Speech’ are thrown about far too easily in today’s society. But classifying what is and isn’t ‘Hate Speech’ is a value judgement. I have people accuse me of ‘hate speech’ simply for disagreeing with them.  So the idea that the government could or should punish people for something based on opinion of another should be a concern to all Australians, not just trolls.

I deal with ‘trolls’ a fair bit. What I post online tends to attract them and it’s the reason user comments below need to be approved by a moderator before they appear. Yet, I still stand by what I’ve been saying for the last 14 years. Don’t feed the trolls, don’t give them the recognition and attention they crave, they will get bored and leave.

Also don’t do a massive Dawson Drama Queen. That only empowers them.

Meryl Dorey and the massive butthurt.

Oh dear, it looks like Australia’s leading anti-vaccination conspiracy theorist is upset with my attempts to get her to comply with government regulations. Meryl Dorey has setup a new section on the Australian Vaccination Networks website entitled “Dossier of Attacks on the AVN” where she whinges about all the criticism she’s been receiving as a result of her dangerous anti-vaccination ideology, and her failure to comply with government regulations. I found it very amusing that she decided to complain about my reporting her to the New South Wales Fair Trading.

Back in May 2012 I wrote to NSW Fair Trading to point out that the Australian Vaccination Network failed to comply with Section 41 of the ASSOCIATIONS INCORPORATION ACT 2009 (NSW).

This blatant attempt to enforce the current regulations did not sit well with Meryl Dorey and she decided to include me in her “Dossier”. I take this as a sign that I must have done something right.

Dan Buzzard who is associated with both the Australian Skeptics and Stop the AVN, has been filing complaints with government authorities and writing to venues where the AVN was hosting seminars for several years now. The first image below is a letter he sent to the NSW Department of Fair Trading complaining about the fact that our RealAustralianSkeptics blog did not mention the Australian Vaccination Network. Well, the reason for that is that the blog is actually ON the Australian Vaccination Network’s website! –Meryl Dorey

Since Meryl is clearly suffering from massive butthurt I thought perhaps I could help her out. So I wrote a helpful letter and included a copy of the BUTTHURT REPORT FORM.

My handwriting, my reason for always typing letters.

I trust she will find my letter and attachment most useful. If not she will probably make another media release about it, but at least I tried.

In addition to mailing the Butthurt form I also decided to supply Meryl with more content for the dossier on me. I know Meryl likes homeopathy so what better than to direct her to evidence that I might have been rude to someone who sold the bogus medicine. Yes it’s the Cease and Desist I received.

Sometimes I’m just too helpful.

Janet Fraser tries to hide from her deadly views

Janet Fraser is a “freebirthing advocate” from New South Wales who runs a website full of medical misinformation at JoyousBirth.info that aims to convince people that DIY child birth is a safe and reasonable thing to undertake. Janet Fraser views have already lead to the death of her own child in 2009.

In June of 2012 Deputy State Coroner Scott Mitchell declared Janet Fraser’s views on childbirth “extravagantly expressed” and “quite insensitive to the potential harm unassisted labour could cause”.

Ms Fraser, who runs the Joyous Birth website, had elected to have the “free birth” with only her husband Trevor Stokes and her friend Marianna Duce on hand throughout.

Mr Mitchell said Ms Fraser had not sought the assistance of any medical professionals in the lead up to the birth of her third child, electing to give birth in an inflatable pool in her home study.

There were no fluids, no drips, no cannulas and no emergency drugs to staunch bleeding, Mr Mitchell said. There was also no heart monitoring or resuscitation equipment for the baby or an oxygen mask for the mother. –Sydney Morning Herald

However despite the death of her own child and condemnation from the coroner Ms Fraser continues to run her Joyous Birth website to promote her ideas.

JoyousBirth.info owned by Janet Fraser

The Joyous Birth website was indeed registered to Ms Fraser on the 30th of June 2012 when I first queried the registration details of her domain name. However the next time queried the records on 29th August 2012, it appears Ms Fraser is now using an anonymity service to hide her ownership of the website.

JoyousBirth.info registration details obfuscation.

So Janet Fraser wants mothers to try her solution despite the fact that it killed her own child. She is also trying to hide her involvement with the Joyous Birth website. Is she ashamed of the misinformation she spreads? she should be. Although she certainly isn’t sorry otherwise she would pull the site down, or at least correct herself when she is shown to be wrong. I wouldn’t call the death of a child a “Joyous Birth”, but then I’m not Janet Fraser.

Louise Barbara: 9/11 victims chose to fly

Ok so Psychics are known to make plenty of outrageous claims. But Perth based psychic and fraud Louise Barbara had this to say on Facebook.

She is not only a moron and fraud (Psychic medium) but also an anti-vaxxer.

Fortunately her Facebook page now appears to be deleted. But I’m sure it won’t be the last we see of her. Especially as she is based in my own city.

eBay to prohibit psychic fraud

eBay is taking steps to prevent people from selling fraudulent items  via its online auction system.  Items that fraudsters will no longer be able to sell include Psychic Readings, Spells and Magic Potions.

Screenshot from eBay

eBay gives the reason.

Transactions in these categories often result in issues between the buyer and seller that are difficult to resolve. To help build confidence in the marketplace for both buyers and sellers, eBay is discontinuing these categories and including the items on the list of prohibited items. –eBay

In other words buyers are sick of being ripped off by charlatans so eBay is at long last going to put a stop to it. Charlatans have until the 30th of August 2012 to cease selling these dodgy or non-existent wares.

Of course these crooks aren’t simply going to disappear without a fuss and have set up a petition to urge eBay to allow them to continue their shonky trades

The petition lists 24 Facebook pages, 18 Twitter pages, 1600 eBay.com email addresses and the personal home address and telephone number of eBays current CEO.  It seems these crooks are going to engage in a mass harassment/abuse campaign against eBay and their staff.  We have seen similar tactics employed by anti-vaccine nuts in the past.

The pending harassment campaign comes as no surprise; I have learnt that people who make money by cheating and swindling are amongst the most hostile in the bullshit category.  I only hope eBay has the security in place to protect its staff from this possible onslaught of nutbags.

Link: eBay catagory updates.

Link: Charlatan response.

Who let the skeptic in?

Meryl Dorey of the infamous Australian Vaccination Network has been holding public seminars where herself and Greg Beattie have been lying to the public in order to scare the public. However in order to provide the illusion of balance they decided to allow Scotty Harrison, a statistician to give a 12 minute presentation.

However unlike both Meryl Dorey and and Greg Beattie; Scotty Harrison is honest. So Scotty’s presentation addressed and refuted the anti-vaccination claims of Greg and Meryl.

No doubt Greg and Meryl will be outraged by this sudden outburst of Research, Logic and Honesty.

Aboriginal Memes, is Free-Speech Taboo in Australia?

A shit storm is currently brewing over a controversial Facebook page entitled “Aboriginal Memes” the page is now offline but I collected the photos from it so you can see what the fuss is about. Photos Now offline. (I think I’ve made my point.)

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has weighed into the debate over a racially abusive Facebook page, saying he thinks it should be taken down. 

SBS reported yesterday on the Facebook page, which allows posts with racially abusive “memes” about Indigenous people. The page was temporarily removed, before re-appearing on the site with a tag noting that the content contained “controversial humour”.  

–World News Australia

However the really horrific thing that I personally found about this page was not the content at all, but rather the fanatical Anti-freedom of Speech groups that setup for the sole purpose of suppressing another persons speech. Yes, that speech is distasteful but supporting free speech means that we must often defend distasteful things.

A page Called Make Facebook Shut Down Aboriginal Memes

Has sprung up in protest of the Aboriginal Memes page  however this situation is nothing more than people seeking to suppress another person’s speech because they happen to find it distasteful. I find it disturbing how many people are radically opposed to freedom of speech in this country. Except of course when it’s their own speech then all of a sudden they are suddenly in favour of it.

But this only shows a gross lack of consideration for what free speech means for all of us. Because you cannot possibly claim to support freedom of speech while simultaneously seeking to suppress another. Free Speech is a right that must be given to everyone on equal ground regardless of its content.

When supporting the Freedom of Speech  you don’t need to agree with the opinions of others but unless you are prepared to defend their right to say whatever they like you cannot call yourself a supporter of Free-Speech and nor can you reasonably expect others to respect your rights when you do not extend that courtesy yourself.

I hate having to defend those whom I disagree with, but it seems I am required to do so more and more often in order to defend free speech these days. This is one of those times.

I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. –Evelyn Beatrice Hall