Scien TOMogy - Aftermath

Aftermath

The threats gave the Web site a cult following of its own, taking its normal traffic from one hundred hits per day to one million in a matter of hours. The Wall Street Journal carried reports commenting on the irony of the situation, noting the site's message that the press exposure due to the threats from the Church of Scientology had increased its traffic over tenfold. Mel Gibson has not raised objections to use of the parody term "PassionofCruise". E! News reported that though Stollery had originally agreed to take down the site, it was still running and accessible as of July 2006, when the United Nations' World Intellectual Property Organization awarded Cruise rights to the domain name "TomCruise.com" over claims of a cybersquatter.

In addition to hosting the original cease and desist letter, the Berkman Center for Internet & Society also gives legal commentary on various issues pertaining to the "ScienTOMogy" controversy at a page provided by the organization Chilling Effects. They discuss "trademark tarnishment", which may occur if a non-owner of a trademark uses the work in an "activity that is likely to offend the average person." However, the page also notes that the tarnishment would be non-actionable if the usage was non-commercial or parody. The Church of Scientology has not since filed a lawsuit or opened litigation on "Scientomogy," though at present the site scientomogy.info was inactive. Internet Archive's Wayback Machine last version of the site is from July 8, 2007.