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[Note: The audio transcriber was unable to put in all tee-hee-hee's emitted by Ilena Rosenthal during this 'very sincere' interview]
The audio begins:
This is Fintan Dunn, and you're very welcome. You're on the next level on breakfornews.com where the expression is still free.
It's Wednesday, the 22nd of November and you're very welcome. This is Fintan Dunn reporting with a news-extra. One of the series of shorter news audio reports on breakfornews, covering breaking news stories around the world.
And we're turning our attention to a court decision on Monday in the California Supreme Court, one that has backed Internet free speech. It came accidentally almost out of an attempt by a group of so-called Quackbusters. They claim to be monitoring health quacks on the Internet, but in fact they are acting on behalf of pharmaceutical and other corporate vested interests and vested interests in the government and FDA.
They sued a number of health activists including Ilena Rosenthal who's guested on the show before. She's the founder and driving breastimplantawareness.org and she found herself on the receiving end of a lawsuit which claimed that she libeled Dr. Stephen Barrett and Dr. Terry Polevoy on the websites of a couple of newsgroups that Ilena runs.
Now, it was a clear attempt to try and harrass, legally harrass, health activists, but the pace quickly became very strategically important and attracted the interest of the American Liberties Civil Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Google and a host of other silicon valley free speech interests.
Well finally on Monday, the court decision went Ilena Rosenthal's way and the Quackbusters suit was thrown out, but the judgment by the California Supreme Court ended up copperfastening the legal underpinnings of free speech on the Internet. As the court decision itself said, "The decision brought the law of libel from the Gutenberg era of the printing press to the cyber space era. Let's get more on that ruling and Ilena Rosenthal's reactions to it, because she's joining us on the line right now from Costa Rica.
Fintan: Ilena Rosenthal, you're very welcome to breakingnews.com, thanks for joining us.
Ilena: Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak out more on this issue.
Fintan: An attempt to quash free speech has rebounded and in fact ended up reinforcing free speech on the Internet. Are you pleased?
Ilena: I, I couldn't be more relieved. I've spent the last six years of my life defending myself in both the courtrooms and on the Internet against these same plaintiffs and they try to stop all alternative and critical opinions, such as I hold.
Fintan: Yes, indeed. And that issue wasn't particularly coming up in the court, the background to this case. But let's take a look at the courts decision itself. It was very favorable in parts. In particular, you had written about Stephen Barrett that he was (and I'm quoting) "arrogant, bizarre, close-minded, emotionally disturbed, professionally incompetent, intellectually dishonest, a quack, a toad, a bully and a Nazi". And yet the Supreme Court of California has decided that your postings were in the public interest and for the most part contained no assertions that could be proven false."
Ilena: That quote that you just quoted was not something that I wrote myself.
Fintan: Um-hm
Ilena: It was something that someone else had written and I reposted.
Fintan: Okay
Ilena: And that was why the Supreme Court was so interested in this issue. The things that I personally wrote about Dr. Stephen Barrett, the head of the Health Fraud group, and...um...the things that I ..that I reposted and posted - there was not one word in any of that, that could even be considered potentially libelous.
Fintan: Um-hm.
Ilena: And every bit of that was considered to be an opinion. Held by many I must 'con...I must add (chuckling). But, indeed opinion. But those were not my words. They were reposted words.
Fintan: Well there was one aspect of it that is critical in terms of Internet Expression and that is on the Internet different from print and on air, by the way, on the Internet this decision indicates that you may repost comments made by somebody else. And if their libelous, well then that's that person’s problem, from a libel point of view, not your problem for reposting. And that really helps on the Internet, where any other decision would have tied us in knots completely.
Ilena: It's uncontrollable. The Internet is uncontrollable.
Fintan: Yes.
Ilena: And so I think that's one of the things the judges were talking about here. In this case Mr. Bolen, um, posted his opinion that I reposted under his own name. He's ah, he didn't take the slimmy way (hee, hee) and post anonymously like so many of our opponents do.
Fintan: Um-hm
Ilena: And, but many times you can't even find out who did the original posting, yet alone the second, third, fourth, twentieth generation of something. Things go so quickly it's not controllable.
Fintan: Okay, so those are the implications for free speech, but the background to this case, Ilena, is a terrific victory against the harassment by these Quackbuster mob.
Ilena: Oh my gosh I'll tell you, they left no stone unturned in harassing me and trying to harm my good name. They hired...they were connected with people who hired private investigators...um...who came here to San Diego to, to find me. They, they sent people who were connected with them to
Costa Rica to ah...attempt
to find ah...find me.
insulting, defamatory
websites about the way...uh, another business
Fintan: Um-hm
Ilena: totally separated from this and then took fake names to publicize this. I mean, they even bothered the people where I get my mail here in San Diego, someone I've done business with for almost twenty years. Um, they called and threatened her and tried to make it...her...her afraid of continuing to do business with me.
Um, people who...ah...interviewed me for radio shows were ah..if they found out about it...they would often um...call and threaten that if they had me on... that they would be sued too.
So these are the types of invocations that are really important with this suit also.
Fintan: Ya-um. I mean some of that stuff was absolutely bizarre, Ilena. For example.
Ilena: Tee-heeee
Fintan: Coleah Penley-Ayers who is associated with a former President of Inamed (and you've been active in the area of breast implants). Inamed is a manufacturer. She purchased a website in your name and then put up morphed, altered photographs to try and disparage you.
Ilena: Yeah, yeah. They...she ended up taking that down. (Giggle) It's...it's beyond belief....ah....the...the fervor of ...ah...I honestly believe that...if....and I'm not trying to sound dramatic, but I believe that if they could have gotten rid of me before this judgment came down, that they would have done that. Because this may cost Dr. Polevoy a pretty penny right now.
And...um...if they had
somehow disappeared me before they uh..the ruling
Fintan: Yes.
Ilena:
But they were certainly um...adamant about trying to find me
Fintan:
But of all the people...um....Stephen Barrett is certainly the most prominent
Ilena: I could do a rain dance for that...uh, I..I don't know, he's been around for several decades. I fully believe that that he was a part of the ah...crusade against Chiropractors in the 70's here in the United States.
Fintan: Um-Hm
Ilena: Um, that his organization is well backed. Um, his connections with the American Counsel of Science and Health, he's been a writer for them for years. Where I first locked horns with him was his denial about multiple chemical sensitivity and he wrote for the American Counsel of Science something that was very very widely distributed and he called for the licenses of scientists and doctors who were working with the patients trying to figure out what was going on in their bodies.
And...it's very well known that the chemical industry funds the American Counsel of Science and Health who funded this so-called study that (giggle) Stephen Barrett wrote about. So he's very connected...um...with the industry and they've used him for years in my opinion and as one of the front runners.
He's been in setting up
layers and layers of layers upon the Internet...um...
Fintan: Mentor was one of the breast implant manufacturers that was approved by the FDA in their recent decision and if you want to get more information on that, just contact Bill Zucker. Bill Zucker works for Burson-Marseller, the huge PR agency who represent Mentor Corporation.
So, its going on right to today, the unholy alliance between the FDA, the manufacturers and drug companies and people in the legislature and in the media. It's an evil alliance, is the only way you can describe it, Ilena.
Ilena: (gush and giggle) Well you know I haven't used those words, but I couldn't agree with you more and I don't believe it's for the public good.
These people like to call themselves health watchers um (giggle) that...that they're out to get the health frauds, that they are protecting
huge, huge interests. Squibb and Monsanto that there has been a part of for years.
They have been very active on trying to opt to stave off the problems with breast implants and create a whole disinformation campaign around it and their tot...we have documents, in fact...oh you even have them on your website didn't you.... ah documents about Burson-Marseller and their plan.
Fintan: Yep, we have and their plan to...ah...in some cases coach witnesses who would then appear before a congressional committees...and...ah...to whip up activism favorable to breast implants,
to deliberately construct
that activism.
Trying to destabilize what ever it is that you do, and it hasn't worked and that really makes me feel really very glad.
Ilena: Thank you so much Fintan, you....your um..website and having had me posted up there in the past and giving me this opportunity to speak um..is...is quite a help in this very interesting time on the Internet, as corporate interests are trying so hard to control us.
Um, my husband’s favorite movie is the Matrix and we were right before you called me today we were watching it and it talks about right in the beginning the Matrix is all about control and that's (hee, hee) what I feel I have been fighting these many years now.
And the worst of it right now is that I have this um...favorable news on my suit but what's going on with the breast implant issue is is...just not good, worldwide. It's gonna....I think it's going to help bring down the FDA, this decision.
Fintan: Yeah, but its extraordinary is decision that flies in the face of valid concerns about breast implants. Now that you have this victory in this particular case, hopefully you will be able to continue to focus your efforts on that.
Ilena: That is my every intention....I....because it's not going to get better. Now that the U.S. government via the FDA, is telling the women that breast implants are safe, just like the breast implant industry has been doing, there's going to be more and more women duped, and there's going to be horrendous consequences for their entire lives.
Fintan: Yup, it's a long battle and hopefully you will be successful in that work and for joining us today on breakingnews.com, thanks very much, Ilena.
Ilena: Thank you, Fintan.
Fintan: Now, that is one determined lady. And determination looks like it is paying off, but there still is a long way to go on the core issue of breast implants.
You can get more information, more unbiased, independent, free Internet information on that, from Ilena's website. It's breastimplantawareness.org and you can also get her interview on breakfornews.com and the quickest way I think for that is just to Ilena and breakfornews into Google.
That's I L E N A, for Ilena and breakfornews. Put those two words into Google and that should get you our interview on the breast implant issue with Ilena.
Okay that's it for this news extra. |