Scientologists are attempting to block the spread of a video clip in which Tom Cruise zealously espouses his faith in the church.

If you're on board, you're on board, just like the rest of us, he tells those of wavering faith. We are the authorities on getting people off drugs, we can rehabilitate criminals and unite cultures.

Cruise's emotional testimonial is accompanied by a guitar riff playing the theme from Mission: Impossible. Cruise, a Scientologist for 20 years, has recently emerged as one of the controversial church's most outspoken proselytisers. Some suggest that the actor has been elevated to one of the highest echelons of the secretive church, cryptically known as OT-VII.

Apparently meant for Scientologists' eyes only, the video is a nine-minute testimonial in which Cruise, wearing a black polo neck, encourages Scientologists to practise their faith relentlessly.

Infamously litigious, the Church of Scientology has been busy firing off lawsuits alleging breach of copyright wherever the video pops up, notably on YouTube and Google Video. Unfazed by potential legal issues, a number of gossip websites are busy re-posting the controversial video as soon as it disappears.

On Gawker.com, Nick Denton wrote: It's newsworthy, and we will not be removing it.

So far, the church is having little success in keeping the video off the internet, and as soon as it is taken down it pops up somewhere else. Not unlike the movie and music industries, the Church of Scientology is constantly battling with websites to prevent unauthorised distribution of its intellectual property.

The publishers of Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography have told US Amazon not to send the book to customers from outside of the USA and Canada.

The following notice has now appeared on the page detailing the book:

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Publisher has authorized the distribution of this book only to customers within the United States and Canada.

However good old eBay has no problems getting this book to people outside North America.

It seems that a fair few enterprising individuals have bought stocks in the US and are distributing them via eBay.

An underground market for the new unauthorised Tom Cruise biography has sprung up on auction site eBay, with Australian buyers willing to pay a significant premium for the book.

There were dozens of auctions for Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography - many offering multiple copies - and bidders willing to pay up to $61.50. The book is available on Amazon.com for about $30, including shipping.

The book is now number one on the Amazon best-seller list.

It will not be printed in Australia and US distributors have now said they will no longer export the book, by British author Andrew Morton, outside the US and Canada.

But eBay sellers are getting around the ban on the book by having partners make bulk retail purchases in the US.

We've got two shipments coming, the first is 150 books," said a man selling the books on ebay, Wojtek: We're buying multiples of 100 at a time. The demand is quite substantial, we need to get in as many as we can as quick as possible.

A group of internet hackers has launched an online campaign against the Church of Scientology.

The group, which calls itself Anonymous, has scored a couple of big successes, first by carrying out a denial of service attack on the Church of Scientology's international website, causing it to crash, and a sustained campaign of "Google bombing" - manipulating the way the internet search engine works - to ensure that the Church of Scientology is returned as the first hit whenever anyone enters the search string "dangerous cult".

The decision of hackers to target the church is believed to have stemmed from YouTube's decision to remove a video from the site showing Tom Cruise hailing Scientology as "a blast".

Anonymous allege that Scientologists forced YouTube to delete the highly embarrassing footage.

However, the Church of Scientology claims that the video, which was shot at a 2004 church anniversary event, was never intended for replay on television and the internet and had been placed on the internet in an out-of-context manner for the purpose of causing controversy.

The video is copyrighted, and the email request that it be removed was no different to what is routinely done by other owners of copyrighted materials whose works are pirated, such as the film, television and recording industries, said the Church of Scientology in a statement.

Global protests are planned for this Sunday, to voice concerns about the church's supposed love for "speech-suppression tactics" and "frivolous" legal injunctions to prevent criticism or discussion of the religion. Protesters are mobilising online on sites such as Facebook and YouTube. A video posted by Anonymous about its anti-Scientology campaign has been viewed more than 90,000 times and the group has its own "channel" on the video-sharing site.

According to a press release circulated by the protest group, Anonymous said that that group's goals include bringing an end to the financial exploitation of Church members and protecting the right to free speech.

It goes on to say that this alleged clamp-down on free speech was most evident on the recent attacks on websites such as Digg and YouTube, where the church filtered anti-Scientology comments and replaced their content with the text: 'This comment is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Church of Scientology International'.

Comment: Best Methods of Protest

From DarkAngel on the Melon Farmers Forum

Regarding those hackers doing "denial of service" attacks on the scientology websites, whilst I admire people wanting to stand up to this lot there is no way I can condone these illegal acts. These people are going to get themselves jailed if they're not careful.

There's a very good YouTube video criticising their methods from an anti-scientology campaigner who goes on to explain the best methods of protesting against them.

Dressed in black, sporting masks and handing out leaflets on a sunny Sunday morning, more than 30 people stand on an Edinburgh pavement protesting against the Church of Scientology in Scotland.

Posters such as "Honk if you think Scientology is a cult" and "Knowledge is free" were just two of the signs waved at passing motorists and the Hubbard Academy from the narrow pavement.

But despite the healthy turnout of protesters, the numbers pale in comparison with the 7,000 Scots boasted as members by the Edinburgh centre, 100,000 in the UK and more than eight million worldwide.

The Hubbard Academy is just one of 14 in the UK, including Birmingham, Manchester, Brighton, Plymouth, Hove, York, Eastbourne and Tunbridge Wells. There are two in London, including a new centre that opened in October 2006.

But the Edinburgh campaigners, faces blackened, covered by scarves or Halloween masks, argued that the church's behaviour towards critics meant they needed to raise awareness in the wider public.

Websites ranging from Facebook to anti-sect site Operation Clambake coordinated the global "Project Chanology" protests yesterday in centres including London, Brighton, Leeds, Manchester and Dublin.

The Church of Scientology in the UK last night branded Sunday's protesters – who individually and collectively called themselves Anonymous – as "cyber-terrorists" who were themselves anti-free speech.

Scientology is almost as famous for its celebrity members as for its often questioned practices. The church counts Hollywood stars John Travolta, Kirstie Alley and Juliette Lewis as members, as well as soul-legend Isaac Hayes, the musician Beck and even the voice of Bart Simpson, Nancy Cartwright.

A spokesman for the Church of Scientology in the UK said: "'Anonymous' is a group of cyber-terrorists who hide their identities behind masks and computer anonymity. They are perpetrating religious hate crimes against Churches of Scientology: They initially justified their attacks by claiming that the Church's requests to some websites to remove a stolen video of an internal Church event somehow constituted an affront to free speech. In fact, the Church, as would any copyright owner, had simply sent routine notices that the video constituted a copyright violation.

Online last night, Anonymous insisted they were not a group of "super hackers", adding: We want you to be aware of the very real dangers of Scientology. We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. We will be heard. Expect us.

L Ron Hubbard, full name Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, was born in Nebraska in 1911. He wrote many science fiction, fantasy, western and adventure stories, initially under pseudonyms. In 1949, he started to promote his Dianetics self-improvement technique, publishing a book by the same name in 1950: it sold 150,000 copies in the first year.

The Church of Scientology was founded in 1953, describing itself as "the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, others and all of life". According to the church, the ultimate goal is to get the individual being (the "I", called Thetan) back to its native state of total freedom, thus gaining control over matter, energy, space, time, thoughts, form and life. This freed state is called "Operating Thetan".

Believers in Scientology say it offers "exact" methods of spiritual counselling, to help people achieve awareness of their spiritual existence. Through the process of "auditing", people can free themselves of specific traumatic incidents and prior transgressions, which restrict the person from reaching the state of "Clear", and, after that, the state of "Operating Thetan".

Scientology keeps its texts secret until devotees have paid enough money to learn what they say. Some opponents claim the cost of completing all the courses can set an individual back $380,000 (£195,000). The church itself says the most expensive course it offers costs $33,932 (£17,430).

Glosslip insiders have revealed that the Daily Mail’s story on Jett Travolta, titled Did John Travolta’s weird faith seal son Jett’s fate? was pulled from their website after threats from the Church of Scientology.

This is nothing new in the world of Scientology. Almost a year ago, gossip site Gawker was threatened with legal action from the highly litigious religion after posting a for Scientologist’s eyes only video featuring Tom Cruise discussing his strange religion. Gawker, citing fair use laws, refused to pull the video, and have been reaping a traffic bonanza since.

With the barrage of stories following the tragic death of 16-year old Jett Travolta, one has to wonder how much overtime the lawyers have been putting in trying to keep the media from looking too closely at their dangerous history of medical mishaps based on the groups anti-psychiatry beliefs.

France is prosecuting Scientology for its materials and methods that the country believes makes fraudulent and extravagant.

There is an upcoming trial of France Vs. Scientology scheduled for May 2009. The case surrounds charges made by a woman in 1998 who acquired membership in Scientology after meeting a group of people outside a public transport station. After that the woman paid 140,000 francs for materials that included purification packs and books making extravagant claims.

The case is now proceeding to court following Judge Jean-Christophe Hullin's decision that the bookstore in France called Celebrity Centre, bookstore and seven top managers should go on trial for committing and practicing as pharmacists without proper qualifications.

May 25 is the scheduled trial date.

The Church of Scientology faces being thrown out of France if it is found guilty of organised fraud in a landmark trial which has opened in Paris.

The charges, which also include claims of illegally prescribing drugs, were filed by France's professional pharmaceutical association and two women who accuse the Scientologists of bringing about their financial ruin.

One woman claimed she was psychologically pressured into paying thousands of pounds for lessons, books, drugs and a device called an electrometer which the church says can measure a person's mental state.

The church's main structure in France, the AGES-Celebrity Centre, and its bookshop face charges of organised fraud, along with six of its leaders.

The case has taken ten years to come to court. The trial runs until June 10.

Scientology has called upon the Australian Government to censor the internet and media locally in direct response to protests from Anonymous.

In a long, rambling submission made to the Australian Human Rights Commission made earlier this year, the 'Church' attacks Anonymous calling them, among other things, a hate group of cyberterrorists that is engaged in a malicious campaign of hate that is an anathema to democracy.

The submission states:

In Australia Anonymous have mounted a sustained campaign of misinformation against the Church. As we are a minority religion with the vast majority of the population unaware of our true beliefs and humanitarian programs, their campaign has no justifiable purpose and violates the Church of Scientology's and parishioners rights to human dignity and religious freedom under the Constitution.

Scientology wants the Internet and media in Australia censored to prevent any negative stories being told about the church, and more, including:

• Banning the use of domain name registration anonymity tools such as WhoisGuard by sites who talk about the church
• The introduction of criminal sanctions for vilification of religion, including jail time for serious religious vilification.
• The prohibition of concealing ones identity with a mask by people engaged in campaigns of harassment and vilification against religions (which they specifically mean Guy Fawkes masks.)

The statement gets worse:

It is recommended that a law be enacted to prevent the dissemination of antireligious propaganda in the media, which is based on unfounded hearsay and either known or reasonably known to be untruthful. Such dissemination shall be the subject of a civil penalty provision in favour of the defamed Church, and/or its individual parishioners if they are individually named or otherwise identified.

Germany's state broadcaster is locked in a row with the Church of Scientology which wants to block an upcoming feature film that depicts the organisation as totalitarian and unethical.

Bis Nichts Mehr Bleibt, or Until Nothing Remains, dramatises the account of a German family torn apart by its associations with Scientology. A young married couple joins the organisation but as the wife gets sucked ever more deeply into the group, her husband, who has donated much of his money to it, decides to leave. In the process he loses contact with his young daughter who, like his wife, is being educated by Scientology instructors.

Scientology leaders have accused Germany's primary public TV network, ARD, of creating in top secret a piece of propaganda that sets out to undermine the group, and have demanded to see it before it is broadcast.

According to the makers of Until Nothing Remains, the €2.5m (£2.3 m) drama, which is due to air in a prime-time slot at the end of March, is based on the true story of Heiner von Rönns, who left Scientology and suffered the subsequent break-up of his family.

Scientology officials have said the film is false and intolerant. Jürg Stettler, a spokesman for Scientology in Germany said: The truth is precisely the opposite of that which the ARD is showing. The organisation is investigating legal means to prevent the programme from being broadcast. Stettler said the organisation was planning its own film to spread our own side of the story.