The Internet is a source of adventure, knowledge and ingenuity. Many people have used it to inform others about the ills of the world while others use it to have fun and entertainment. Recently, the Internet has become a “war zone” between free speech and religion.

On one side is the Church of Scientology which placed DMCA notices on a video (featuring Tom Cruise) to the Internet. Many sites complied, however reposting of the video in various placed showed the effects of trying to censor the Internet. While many have criticized it as being a cult, Scientology describes itself as a way to bring peace to the world.

On the other side of this fight is the Internet group the refers to itself as Anonymous. Their claims are that the Church of Scientology are trying to suppress freedom of speech and have staged many demonstrations around the world.

This story is a common example of the Streisand Effect. This cultural phenomenon is when an attempt to remove information from the Internet creates publicity by continually reposting a item in another place. It has also been described as the way the Internet fixes censorship that attempts to damage freedom of speech and the distribution of knowledge.