2005.09.08

Law Suit: Action Launched by Watch Tower Against This Web Site

In a move that some might see as unusual, Watch Tower has initiated a law suit in Ontario Superior Court against the proprietor of this web site. Their Statement of Claim is available for download. (Note: this is a multi-page TIFF file, so be sure to use the often forgotten "Next Page" button on your TIFF viewing program. Just look at the toolbar when you are viewing the document and you should see the "Next Page" button, usually a small right-pointing arrow or down-pointing arrow).

Watch Tower is claiming copyright infringement, trade-mark violation, violation of a EULA on their Watchtower Library CD-ROM and more. Amazingly, they also claim that the purpose of this web site is to "embarrass" them.

Now think about that for a second. On the one hand, they claim that this web site has gone beyond the provisions of "fair dealing" according to copyright law (which it clearly does not); yet on the other hand, and simultaneously, they say that this web site "embarrass[es]" them.

How can accurate quotes from the Watch Tower's publication possibly embarrass the Watch Tower?

They have contacted us exactly ONE time. They have not responded to our request for more information. And now they claim they have contacted us "repeatedly". That is simply and blatantly untrue. What kind of person, or organization, especially one calling themselves "true Christians" and "God's channel of communication", would resort to lies, dishonesty, and bullying tactics? (Or perhaps they feel this is "spiritual warfare"?)

This web site provides only factual, and verifiable information, in the form of quotes from the pages of the Watch Tower Society's publications. All of our quotes are fully cited. To prevent allegations of "out of context quoting", a reasonable amount of surrounding text is included. In addition to being "fair dealing", this web site is most certainly "fair" -- in the everyday sense of the word.

A significant and reasonable question is: Why does Watch Tower not want this web site to remain in operation? Why are they trying to stifle my freedom of religious expression? Their attitude seems to be: "Freedom for Me, but Not For Thee".

"By their works, you will know them..."

2005.08.20

New page added: Only Jehovah's Witnesses.... This material complements the Exclusivity page, and there are now cross links between the two pages.

Update to Great Pyramid page: added quote from Proclaimers book, which glosses over and minimizes this long abandoned belief. This quote incorrectly states the belief was held for "35 years" (it was believed longer than that) and fails to mention how important and significant this belief was to the early movement. It also fails to address how it is possible that in 1919, when Christ chose them as the Faithful and Discreet Slave, they could have held a belief which was "satanic", and yet were chosen as the "one true religion". In other words, this quote is interesting because of what it doesn't say.

Update to Molestation page: added quote from Watchtower 1995 November 1. Plainly states that in cases of alleged molestation, if there is a denial of the accusation, and there are not TWO eye witnesses to the molestation, then "the elders should explain to the accuser that nothing more can be done". To answer concerns that this could lead to a guilty party "getting away with it", Watch Tower offers the same consolation used by many, many other religions: "leave it in (Jehovah) God's hands". Consider: In the case of an bona fide child molestor, this means the molestor continues without punishment from the Jehovah's Witnesses congregation, and that the victim will likely repeatedly face the molestor at the five weekly Jehovah's Witness meetings (or perhaps more often if the molestor is a relative of the victim). Also, significantly, *NO* mention is made in this article about contacting the police, and *NO* mention is made of having trained police experts conduct a proper forensic investigation.

2005.06.14

New page added: Millions Now Living Will Never Die!. According to recent Watch Tower publications, the book and public talk of that name is still considered "timely", "startling", "important", "historic", and "epoch-making". However, the Watch Tower Society fails to make this gound breaking work available today.

Originally published in 1920, that book is no longer protected by copyright, so we are free to publish the complete text of that "important" work, which we have done. Also, we also have included a link to a print-on-demand web site where you can purchase a hard-copy reprint.

Readers will quickly learn a long forgotten fact regarding the "timeliness" of that book and public talk: "Therefore we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the faithful prophets of old, particularly those named by the Apostle in Hebrews chapter eleven, to the condition of human perfection."

2005.06.08

The following press release was sent to many news desks across USA and Canada

---

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRESS RELEASE

Wednesday, June 8, 2005

Contact: [Press contact name removed]
(866) 801-xxxx – fax

FRINGE RELIGIOUS SECT USES LEGAL THREATS TO SHUT DOWN EMBARASSING WHISTLE-BLOWER WEB SITE

JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES, WHO PUBLICLY TRUMPET THEIR PAST LEGAL BATTLES TO ENSURE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS, EXPRESSION, AND RELIGION, HYPOCRITICALLY WAGE LEGAL WAR TO SUPPRESS THE VOICE OF DISSENTERS ON THE INTERNET

TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA - As a result of repeated legal threats from the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania (hereinafter referred to as WTBTS) beginning in January, 2005, the personal website quotes.watchtower.ca was shut down for five days in late May. While the site is currently back in operation, it is unclear where the legal dispute will go from here.

Jehovah's Witnesses have taken great pride in publicizing their past legal battles, some even in front of The Supreme Court of the United States, to secure their right to publish and distribute their religious literature and to proselytize publicly and from door to door in America. They are quick to make it known that the benefits of their legal efforts on behalf of freedom of expression and religion have by extension protected these same rights for many other people and organizations.

However, apparently the current leadership of Jehovah's Witnesses does not believe that these hard won rights extend to those who disagree with them or their teachings and activities. Under the guise of protecting their publication copyrights, their legal representatives were successful in shutting down a web site that did nothing more than quote excerpts from various WTBTS publications. The brief quotes catalogued at the quotes.watchtower.ca site fell well within the realm of "fair use," even under the strictest interpretation of copyright law.

So then, why would WTBTS leadership want to shut down a web site that did nothing more than quote from their own religious literature? Because the very nature of these quotations is embarrassing to them. From their own words the web site documented years of their failed prophecies, constantly changing Bible chronology, flip-flopping doctrinal changes, bizarre medical advice, and dogmatic teachings that many consider physically and emotionally harmful.

For example, one of the most recent additions to the collection is Watch Tower's 1932 claim that the "theory of gravity" is thoroughly in error and that electrical forces, instead, hold the planets in orbit and hold everything down on the earth's surface -- a remarkably ludicrous claim, even when compared to the limited scientific knowledge of the 1930s. Also included were quotations demonizing the Internet, the Media, the United Nations, and other non-Witness entities as 'tools of the Devil.' Obviously, the WTBTS would rather these embarrassing writings be quietly ignored or entirely forgotten, and they are willing to resort to legal threats and pressure to make it so.

[Quotes], registered owner of the aforementioned domain and designer of the web site, is a former member of the Jehovah's Witnesses religion. After years sincerely believing the claim of the Witnesses' leadership to be 'God's sole channel of communication to mankind,' [Quotes] was heartbroken to find that he had not been taught the truth about the religion's history and the development of their current beliefs. In a spirit of scholarship, research, and fairness he created the web site to accurately document the Witnesses' own self-incriminating words.

To receive further information on this ongoing legal battle to defend freedom of expression on the Internet, please fax your request to (866) 801-8642. Be sure to include your return fax number and we will promptly fax you more information.

2005.05.29

We have added a new page containting a transcript of a telephone conversation with Watch Tower representatives regarding donations specifically for "Boxing Day" Tsunami relief.

This recording was made in Florida, where it is legal to record your own telephone conversations without first informing the other party.

Items of interest:

• The first rep asked for funds to be sent in to the "Worldwide work" (i.e. the general fund). There was no mention of the "Relief Work" from this first rep. Also, at no time was any mention made of a specific fund especially for Asian Tsunami Relief, even though that is what the caller explicity asked for.
• Funds were readily accepted, even though there was no specific account set aside for Asian Tsunami Relief
• WTS rep indicated there are no plans to air-freight goods into the affected area
• The only specific plan mentioned is the allocation of funds to purchase water from the unaffected nearby areas, but the amount of allocation was not known or not specified.
• The WTS rep repeatedly referred to 'the local brothers', implying that their releif efforts (apparently, money for the purchase of water) would be only for Jehovah's Witnesses

2005.05.27

I received a response to my most recent question from my web host's attorney.

I was under the impression that there had been an additional communication, but I have not seen it. I'm currently traveling, and was told over the phone that a DMCA notice from Watchtower had been received at the office. Since I did not have the file, I did not recall the resolution of the DMCA notice back in January. The "new" notice was not forwarded to me, however, and no one will be in the office again until next week. Your e-mail leads me to suspect that the original notice was stored in the fax machine's memory and mistaken for new, since something similar has happened once before. If that is the case, I truly apologize. In any event, I will call Webair and make sure the site is back up this evening (if not before).

For the record, I think both my web host and their legal counsel are doing a great job and acting very professionally. Obviously, they have to protect themselves against any possibility of vicarious liability, and will do what they must in order to ensure they are protected by the "safe harbour" provisions of the DMCA, and I respect and understand their position. Despite difficult circumstances (i.e. Watch Tower's nefarious attempts to silence Watch Tower's own words!!??!!), they continue to treat me with courtesy and candor. If you are looking for a great web host, consider using them.

The site was resored late this afternoon.

2005.05.26

I received a response from my web host's attorney regarding the site shut down.

My apologies, I did not recall having dealt with this issue in January. I have asked Sagi to restore the site.

This is obviously good news. But there are still unanswered questions, so I asked them:

[Attorney], thank you. I still have one question, has there been any additional communications/demands from Watch Tower subsequent to their Jan 11/05 letter? I have not seen anything from them since then, and they have not responded to my lawyer's request for more information. Don't worry, I'm not looking to point fingers of blame if this was just an administration error, I am just wondering what precipitated this recent site shut down and if there has been an additional recent Watch Tower threat.

2005.05.24

We have received the following email from our web host.

The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania claims that the content on http://quotes.watchtower.ca infringes their copyrights and trademarks. Our attorney has instructed us to take the site down.

I have sent the following response/request via email.

I received the following response within a couple of hours:

Yes it has, please contact our attorney, [name removed for privacy] for a copy.

I then sent this email to my web host's attorney:

As per the email thread below, I would like to obtain a copy of the DMCA take down notice you have received regarding my site (Quotes.Watchtower.ca).

[I included the other emails to/from the web host with this email to the attorney.]

2005.05.23

Shutdown!

This web site is currently down. These notes are being prepared while we are offline, in the anticipation that service will soon be restored.

We have not heard from our web host (an excellent web host, by the way!).

The site is no longer available via WWW. When I attempt to FTP into the site, I do not have permission to access the folder containing this site. furthermore, that folder name has been changed to have .DMCA appended.

I assume that someone or some organization (guess which one?) has launched a DMCA takedown demand against this site. See below for details regarding a past attempt by Watch Tower Society to close this site using unmeritorious and unsubstantiated claims.

2005.05.02

At the suggestion of a contributor, the new 607 BCE page has been modified. The summary tables have been combined into one, easy to read table which has been moved to a separate page. The reason for moving to a new page is because (a) it was, arguably, not a quote per se and (b) the new larger table would not fit on one page in the new 760px wide format.

2005.04.21

Overhaul of site layout. Now a centered frame, 760px. Hopefully, this will provide a more consistent experience, regardless of user's screen resolution.

Eliminated the "Alphabetic list" on this side column of every page: it was getting far to long and cumbersome.

Elimated the Javascript pop-up menu bar. Although this was a very useful tool, it was a proprietary tool for which we were only licensed at one site. This meant that if the site was mirrored elsewhere, the navigation tool would simply disappear, making navigation difficult. Also, Babelfish translation does not work on the javascript navigation bar, and if the user used the (english only) nav bar they would find themselves back at the english site. Not a good user experience.

Now, the navigation bar is simply ordinary links to the appropriate section of the site map. Although this will create one extra click when navigating, it is more universally accessible.

Began the lengthy process of adding "Get This Publication Now" links which access the Advanced Book Exchange. This should become a very useful service for fellow researchers and collectors or Watch Tower Society publications.

2005.04.05

Added new page: 607 BCE. Using only quotes from Watch Tower Society publications, analyses the succession of Babylonian kings and the length of their respective reigns. Working backwards, starting from the widely accepted (by both historians and Watch Tower) date for the fall of Babylon to the Persians (539 BCE), one arrives at the following date for the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar II: 587 BCE.

Interestingly, the Watchtower then uses a different date for the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem (607 BCE), which clearly disagrees with their own material regarding the Kings of Babylon and the length of their reigns. Some instances of their use of the (now disproven using Watch Tower's own word's) 607 BCE date are included on this newly added page, with red highlights of the inconsistent dates.

2005.03.08

Added talk outline to the "Talks" section: "Observing the Memorial of Christ's Death." This public talk (arguably, the most public of all Watch Tower Society's public talks) clearly confirms that Jehovah's Witness doctrine holds that only the 144,000 have a covenant relationship with Jesus: the other sheep "are not in the new covenant". This is in agreement with other doctrinal statements made in Watch Tower Society's publications.

2005.03.03

Added quote from Watchtower Oct 15, 1983, pp.10-15 called "Beware of Music That Debases!" to the Music page. Interesting and/or significant points from this quote:

• Music has power to influence people's actions
• Satan the Devil uses music to lead people away from Jehovah
• "many popular musicians are involved in the occult" (Note: consult the Snopes site for more information on this type of claim)
• You should judge an album by its cover
• "backward masking" is both factual and effective and is used "by a number of musical groups"
• Even country music is suspect
• You should destroy (not just sell) offending music albums
• Watchtower Society's "Kingdom songs" are suggested as a substitute for the rejected, debasing music

2005.02.12

Added quote from Watchtower Jan 5, 1942, with scan, to the following pages:

• index
• admin-about
• channel

This quote states plainly that The Watchtower is used by God (not mere man) to deliver his (God's) message.

2005.02.11

Our lawyer has communicated the following response to the claims of copyright infringement.

---

[recipients removed: WT lawyers, Web Host, Domain Name Registrar]

Dear Sirs:

Re: Alleged Copyright Infringement: quotes.watchtower.ca

Please be advised that I am the solicitor representing Mr. [Quotes]. I respond to your letter dated January 11, 2005, as follows:

Use of Written Material

Your letter January 11 letter claims that "literally hundreds of pages of copyrighted material grossly exceeds the "fair dealing" provision of Canada's Copyright Act." This statement disingenuously and unfairly characterizes the material presented. The total of "hundreds of pages" of quotes at the website quotes.watchtower.ca actually represents a composite of several hundred individual quotes, from thousands of different Watch Tower publications -- publications which total (by our estimate) on the order of one quarter million (250,000) pages of material. Each quote is, by itself, reasonable under the "fair dealing" provision. A collection of "fair dealing" quotes is, in composite, still "fair dealing". Put another way, if you insist on grouping all of the quotes together (to arrive at a total of "hundreds of pages"), then you must also group together the sum total of the source material from which those quotes were taken. Doing so yields a usage of less than 0.1% of the source, which is well below generally accepted standards for "fair dealing" under the Copyright Act. It is also important to note that each quote properly cites the original source publication and page number.

Furthermore, a large number of the quotes collected have certainly fallen into the public domain by virtue of the passage of time since the original publication date, regardless of whether one consider either Canadian or American copyright statutes as relevant.

Use of "Artwork"

It is important to note that this "artwork" takes the form of drawings and graphical illustrations appearing within Watch Tower books and magazines, reproduced using high speed offset printing techniques. Each individual image represents, typically, less than one page from a book (typically 200 to 400 pages) or magazine (typically 32 pages). Furthermore, those books and magazines are not generally promoted and distributed as art, but rather as literature. These image reproductions used at quotes.watchtower.ca are fully credited to Watch Tower, and once again the source publication and page number is clearly displayed. It is my client's carefully considered position that such use is reasonable under the "fair dealing" provision of the Copyright Act.

We refer you to the decision in Allen v. Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd, (36 O.R. (3d) 201 [1997] O.J. No. 4363, Court File No. 740/95).

Use of domain name "watchtower"

Mr. [Quotes] registered the domain name "watchtower.ca" in November 2000, and has consistently used the domain to point to his collection of Watch Tower quotes. The domain watchtower.ca has been used in good faith and is entirely appropriate, considering the subject matter of this web site. By November 2000, several years had elapsed, during which Watch Tower could have registered the domain watchtower.ca. The fact that it was still available as late as November 2000 indicates that Watch Tower had no intention of registering, protecting, or using the domain watchtower.ca.

A current database search of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office for trade-marks does not yield any results for either "Watch Tower" or "Watchtower". Furthermore, we note your January 11 letter did not claim a trademark for the term "watchtower" (your speculative and unsubstantiated claim of international recognition notwithstanding).

Furthermore, it is interesting to note that a similar search of the US Patent and Trade Mark Office reveals the following registrants for the word mark "Watchtower":

• MATTEL, INC. (Standard Character Mark, S/N 78374150)
• JJ Labs, Inc., (Typed Drawing, S/N 76436364)

It would appear that, according to the USPTO, the term "Watchtower" is non-exclusive and not unique, and therefore Watch Tower does not have any common law trademark rights. It is the contention of my client that unless Watch Tower has a valid registration it has to show common law trademark rights in the mark. Further, because "Watchtower" is a common descriptive term, to demonstrate common law trademark rights, Watch Tower would have to provide evidence that the term acquired secondary meaning. "Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania" is merely a trade name that happens to incorporate the common descriptive term "Watch Tower" which in turn is similar to "Watchtower".

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority ("CIRA") has published Domain Name Dispute Resolution Rules ("Resolution Rules") and a CIRA Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy ("CDRP") for dealing with disputed domain names (http://www.cira.ca/en/cat_Dpr.html). According to CDRP version 1.2, in order to prevail in such a dispute, Watch Tower must prove, on a balance of probabilities, the following:

CDRP ¶4(a): Similarity to Complainant's Mark

As already noted above, there is no evidence at hand that Watch Tower has either a registered trademark or common law trademark rights for "watchtower".

CDRP ¶4(b) Registered and Used in Bad Faith (as described by CDRP ¶3.7)

CDRP ¶3.7(a) My client has not "registered or acquired the domain name primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the domain name registration" to Watch Tower or to a competitor of Watch Tower. The domain is not for sale, is not for rent, and has never been offered for sale or rent.

CDRP ¶3.7(b) My client has not engaged in registering the domain name to prevent Watch Tower from registering the said domain name. He has not "engaged in a pattern of registering domain names in order to prevent persons who have Rights in Marks from registering the Marks as domain names". At the time of registration (November 2000), Watch Tower was the registrant of watchtower.org (registered 1996.03.14), watchtower.net (registered 1996.11.01) and watchtower.com (registered 1997.10.27). There is no indication that Watch Tower had any intention of registering or using watchtower.ca.

CDRP ¶3.7(c) My client has not registered the domain name "primarily for the purpose of disrupting the business of the Complainant." On the contrary, Mr. [Quotes]'s website assists and encourages the study and review of Watch Tower publications, which is entirely consistent with Watch Tower's published desire for careful examination and even shared distribution of its "vital information". (Watchtower May 15, 1957 pp.313-315; You Can Live Forever In Paradise On Earth, 1982, p.197).

CDRP ¶4(c) Lack of Rights or Legitimate Interest (as described by CDRP ¶3.6)

It is obvious that my Client "used the domain name in Canada in good faith in association with a non-commercial activity including, without limitation, criticism, review or news reporting" (CDRP ¶3.6(d)). Mr. [Quotes] has a legitimate interest in the domain name.

I cite the following recent decisions by the World Intellectual Property Organization with similar facts to your claim for watchtower.ca. In all these situations, the arbitration panel ruled in favour of the Respondent (i.e. in favour of the party in Mr. [Quotes]'s position), and furthermore held that the Complainant (i.e. Watch Tower, in this case) was attempting a "reverse domain name hijacking" which is defined as "using the Policy in bad faith to attempt to deprive a registered domain-name holder of a domain name."

• mexico.com
• futureworld.com
• stmoritz.com
• argos.biz
• carsales.com
• supremo.com
• sfm.com
• travel.biz
• arche.com
• prom.com
• netdeposit.com
• 411.biz
• ntmailserver.com

Claimed use of Watch Tower's Corporate Logo

Again we note that your letter did not claim the "Watch Tower Corporate Logo" was a registered trade mark in Canada. Furthermore, a search of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office's database does not indicate any such registration.

However, we have found that USPTO S/N 76220094 is registered to Watch Tower, as a "Design plus words, letters, and/or numbers" for use in "Web sites and web pages, featuring information in the field of religion"). Ignoring for the moment that is an American registration and assuming that this Mark is germane, it is Mr. [Quotes]'s position that his original artwork was both distinct from, and also a parody of, USPTO S/N 76220094 (assuming this registration is what you refer to as the "Watch Tower corporate logo"). However, he feels that there is little to gain by making an issue about this act of free expression -- indeed, there is also little to lose by removing his original artwork. Therefore, as a show of good faith, and without prejudice, he has removed that artwork, as of February 1, 2005.

"Watchtower Bookshelf CD-ROM"

Mr. [Quotes] has advised me that he performed a reasonable amount of due diligence when researching the copyright status of the material provided on the Watchtower Bookshelf CD-ROM . ("BS CD"), and concluded that the material had fallen into the public domain. His initial investigations in early 2003 did not find any renewed copyrights for any of the books included on the BS CD. The relevant copyright law, as understood by my client, can be summarized:

• The works, as originally published, indicate they were "Made in the United States of America" and the copyright notice indicates the copyright is held by "Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania" -- an American company. According to the Berne Convention, "...the [copyright] term shall not exceed the term fixed in the country of origin of the work" (Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, Paris Text 1971, Article 7, paragraph 8.)
• It was, and is, Mr. [Quotes]'s understanding (from the book The Copyright Handbook published by Nolo press) that US copyright law is such that any books published 1923-1963 for which copyright was not renewed, during the final year of copyright protection, are now in the public domain.
• My client launched a good faith search using the online database at the US Copyright Office. Mr. [Quotes]'s search, in early 2003, found no indication that any of the works proposed for the BS CD had been renewed. Therefore, my client concluded that the 17 volumes contained on the BS CD were in the public domain.

In light of your claim "many of these original works continue to be protected under Canada's Copyright Act", Mr. [Quotes] has suspended, indefinitely, his distribution of the BS CD, as a show of good faith and without prejudice, as of February 1, 2005. However, my client requests that you undertake to provide a list of exactly which of the seventeen volumes on the BS CD are, in your opinion, still protected by copyright, and your reasoning underlying your claim. For your reference, a list of the volumes included on the BS CD is still available at http://quotes.watchtower.ca/order-wtbscd.htm, although the order function has been removed.

Sincerely,

[Quotes Lawyer]

P.S. My client has informed me that the fax number listed for him in your January 11 letter is a fax service he has not used for at least one year, and asks that you please update your records by deleting that number. Also, if you have sent any information to that fax number, please be aware that it is impossible for Mr. [Quotes] to retrieve it, and he asks that you re-send same care of this office [xxx-xxx-xxxx].

2005.01.31

We have removed the ability to order the Watchtower Bookshelf CD and Quotes Web Site Archive CD-ROM.

Despite our initial due dilligence regarding the copyright status of the works on the Bookshelf CD, Watch Tower Society claims that some of those works are still protected by copyright.

Watch Tower Society has not, at this time, specified which books, specifically, they feel are still copyright protected.

Nevertheless, as a show of good faith, and without prejudice, we have suspended distribution of the Bookshelf CD.

As for the Quotes Web Site Archive CD-ROM, we are simplifying. We received very few orders (but are thankful for the orders we did receive). As an alternative, we now direct visitors to readily available tools to make their own archives or local "mirror" of our web site.

2005.01.29

We have added a new quote page, which contains the rare article: "Gravitation and Electric Energy" from the August 17, 1932 Golden Age magazine (the magazine now known as Awake!).

This article claims to prove that electric force, and not gravity, hold the planets in their orbits about the sun. Also, this article claims that "electrons" from the sun impinge on the earth's atmosphere and this causes it to spin on its axis. Furthermore, it claims that electric force creates what we feel as and call gravity, and similarly this electrical attraction creates the atmospheric pressure we experience. Also, it is claimed that visible light is created only when the sun's "electrons" pass through the earth's atmosphere, and therefore beyond the atmosphere there is only darkness.

2005.01.28

We have made the following changes: (1) removed the graphic artwork/logo from the top of each page; (2) added additional names of Watch Tower affiliates (Watch Tower Canada, Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses) to the pre-existing footer list of organizations with which we have no affiliation; (3) added to every page a hard-to-miss box with bright red letters which reads as follows:

Although it is our position that our logo was sufficiently distinct, and also protected under law as a "parody", we feel that there is little to gain by making an issue about this act of free expression -- indeed, there is also little to lose by removing our logo. Therefore, as a show of good faith, and without prejudice, we have removed the logo. It has been replaced by a large text-only version of the name of the web site.

Similarly, as a show of good faith on our part, and without prejudice, we have added the "Pay Attention!" warning box. Our site contains information *about* Watch Tower Society, and it is not and never has been our intent to pass ourselves as a Watch Tower affiliate. The footer at the bottom of every page clearly states this, and has done so for a long period of time. Our position is that the nature of our web site was already clearly evident prior to making these changes.

Incidentally, we have also moved the (formerly) left-side navigation/information column from the left side of the screen to the right side. This reason for this change was both cosmetic and practical: some site visitors (who had, sometimes unknowingly, increased their font size to a very large setting) complained that the left column was overlapping the quote boxes. This change should prevent future overlapping.

2005.01.27

We have received a "Cease & Desist" request from lawyers "who have been retained in this matter by Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania ... and its affiliate Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Canada..." We present this letter here.

Interestingly, the legal firm of "W. Glen How & Associates, Barristers and Solicitors" is actually the in house counsel at Watch Tower Canada -- although you would not be able to determine this fact from either the contents of the letter or the pre-printed letterhead, which attempts to maintain the appearance of being an wholly independent law firm. Yes, on paper they are an independent law firm, but even a cursory examination of the actual relationship between "How & Associates" and "Watch Tower Canada" will reveal that no "arms length" relationship exists. It is unclear at this time exactly why Watch Tower Canada and How & Associates are attempting to maintain this facade.

It is also interesting to note two factual errors in this document: (1) the fax number listed for us (obscured in the scan) is incorrect; it was our fax number (through a fax service we used temporarily) a couple of years ago, but that fax service is no longer available to us; and (2) the web site address is incorrect: the correct address is http://quotes.watchtower.ca (not http://www.quotes.watchtower.ca/).

In addition to factual errors, it is our opinion (and the opinion of our legal advisors) that the document is overreaching and contains broad misinterpretation of relevant copyright and intellectual property law. Since the legal claims presented are specious and stretched at best, it is reasonable to conclude that the purpose of this document was to coerce our web host and domain name registrar into a knee-jerk reaction, without thought to the validity (or lack thereof) of the claims presented.

Furthermore, and perhaps most important, the position taken by Watch Tower Canada is ironic at best, and hypocritical at worst. Watch Tower is occasionally self-described as "defenders of freedom and speech and expression". They have fought and won legal battles which have established freedom of expression laws in both Canada and the USA. Furthermore, they have claimed that the "Kingdom Message" and "Good News" they provide is "urgent" and "life saving". And now, with this Cease and Desist request, they attempt to quash both free expression and free examination of that very same "life saving" message. It would appear they want neither free expression nor free examination of their message.

2005.01.24

Although we have considered adding a "News & Updates" section for quite some time, in the past we have resisted this, as it tends to go against our stated purpose of focusing strictly on Watch Tower Society quotes. However, recent events have have caused us to reconsider the necessity of relaying news and updates. From this point forward, we will make note of changes and updates on this page.