Ron Schwarz (see@sig.to.reply) wrote:

>> It looks like Earthlink may be about to begin
>> a new Chapter in ISP history.

That would be a shock to see a major effort like that go down. I doubt that it will be allowed to do so. But what you are seeing here is a classic example of the Real World vs. the Scientology World. The two no more mix than water and oil.

If it weren't for the Security Exchange Commission and their stiff regulations and possible penalties, EarthLink would be the biggest, the greatest, the most successful blah blah blah. All of the Scientology hype. Their mistake was going public and coming under an SEC that works by truth-or-jail. It doesn't read KSW News or Scientology Today or WISE News or any of the other shriek sheets that tell the membership how wonderful everything is, how successful they are and how much they are expanding. Scientology does much better when no one looks at the actual figures and they can make up their own, or at least keep it "in the family" with some trusted investors who are willing to keep their mouths shut and let their money ride for the "good of the planet."

So it is more than EarthLink that is in a bind. There is a PR image here to salvage - LRH's secularized "admin tech," already under assault in the California school book fight - and Sky will be getting some strong support from the ranks to help him raise the cash to at least see if they can regroup or pull out of the market and get back to the private dream world where LRH tech always works and every LRH-run business succeeds. Otherwise, if EarthLink goes down, Sterling Management and the similar front groups will have a tough time touting the wonders and magic of LRH-run businesses. That's why I don't expect it to be allowed to fold. Too much at risk.

But Sky's got some severe competition, with other demands for money (attorney bills and the various PR campaigns to offset the bad news) and while there is a lot for the taking, there is not THAT much.

Meanwhile, good on bringing this to ARS. Let's monitor it to see what they do.

Robert Vaughn Young
writer@eskimo.com