based Internet Entertainment Group have put up a new Web site, www.pope1999.com, following a court ruling in St. Louis that ordered him to take down the original site, www.papalvisit1999.com. \n The first site was ordered closed Jan. 8 after the St. Louis archdiocese complained that, in addition to information about the visit of Pope John Paul II to St. Louis on Jan. 26 and 27, the site contained sexually explicit ads for IEG's flagship site, www.clublove.com. The archdiocese said the IEG site infringed on its trademark for the only visit the pope is scheduled to make to the U.S. this year, "Papal Visit 1999."
Visitors to the new site are greeted by a message that asks them to link to www.clublove.com/pope/. There, they are provided with the pope's itinerary, information on things to do in St. Louis and pages on the sexual misdeeds of Catholic clergy. Meanwhile, IEG announced it will appeal the ruling that forced it to close the original site.
"This was an absurd ruling that oppresses our freedom of speech and allows the Church to dictate who will cover the Pope's visit to St. Louis and under what circumstances," Warshavsky said.
The ruling was made by U.S. District Judge Stephen Limbaugh. "It is not surprising that a decision from the uncle of Rush Limbaugh came down in the way it has, but that doesn't make it any less outrageous," Warshavsky added. He said it is a prime example of how the Church uses the legal system to suppress free speech.
For its part, the Church argued that people were mistaking the original site for an official church site and that IEG was trading off the name of the Church to sell pornography.
A lawyer for the archdiocese said the new site will be watched closely before a decision is made on whether to challenge it in court. The lawyer, Mary Ann Wymore, said the Church was not trying to deny free speech, even speech related to pornography, but to prevent confusion.
