Area within which goods may be landed, handled, and re-exported freely. The purpose is to remove obstacles to trade and to permit quick turnaround of ships and planes. Only when the goods are moved to consumers within the country in which the zone is located do they become subject to tariffs and customs regulation. Free-trade zones are found around major seaports, international airports, and national frontiers; there are more than 200 such zones in the U.S. alone.

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The Free Zone (or independent Scientologists or Scientology Freezone) comprises a variety of groups and individuals who practice Scientology-like beliefs and techniques independently of the Church of Scientology (CoS). Such practitioners range from those who closely adhere to the original teachings of Scientology's founder L. Ron Hubbard, to those who have so far adapted their practices to be almost unrecognizable as Scientology. The term Free Zone was originally only used by a single organization, but the term is now commonly applied to all non-CoS Scientologists, although many dispute the application of the term to themselves. However, the group whose name became adopted as a generic term for independent Scientology was not the first independent Scientologist group; the California Association of Dianetic Auditors, the oldest breakaway group still in existence, claims a founding date of December 1950, predating the Church of Scientology itself.

A November 2004 press release published by the International Freezone Association cited what it says was a command written by L. Ron Hubbard himself: "... before you go, whisper this to your sons and their sons: 'THE WORK WAS FREE. KEEP IT SO.'" (capitals as in press release).

Skeptic Magazine described the Free Zone as: "..a group founded by ex-Scientologists to promote L. Ron Hubbard's ideas independent of the Church of Scientology. A Miami Herald article wrote that ex-Scientologists joined the Free Zone because they felt that Church of Scientology leadership had: "..strayed from Hubbard's original teachings.

Origin of the term 'Free Zone'

The first group to use the term 'Free Zone' was the organization founded by "Captain" Bill Robertson in 1982, now known as RON's Org (acronym for Ron's Organization and Network for Standard Technology). The name came from the "space opera" beliefs Robertson expressed in the "Free Zone Decree", which he said was an Official Decree of the "Galactic Grand Council" which was "relayed from Mainship, Sector 9":

1. The planet known as Teegeeack - local dialect "Earth" or Terra - Sun 12, Sector 9, is hereby declared a Free Zone.
2. No political interference in its affairs from any other part of the Sector or Galaxy will be tolerated.
3. No economic interference in its affairs will be tolerated from any non-planetary agency or power.
4. All of its inhabitants are hereby declared Free Zone Citizens and free of external political or economic interference.

The name "Teegeeack" had already been established as a galactic name for Earth by Hubbard in the materials known as OT III, which tell the story of Xenu.

Germany

Scientology Commissioner Ursula Caberta in Hamburg, Germany has said that the Free Zone is a type of "methadone program for Scientologists," and, in any case, "the lesser evil. The Free Zone group RON's Org says that the Verfassungsschutz Baden-Württemberg (State Office for the Protection of the Constitution) has stated that there is no need to keep RON's Org under observation "as the RON’s Org has no anti-constitutional goals." RON's Org says that some of its members have in fact cooperated in the efforts of state authorities to observe and investigate the Church of Scientology.

The Church of Scientology and the Free Zone

The Church labels all practitioners of and believers in Scientology without its sanction "squirrels" — a term Hubbard coined to describe those who alter Scientology "technology" or practice it in a nonstandard fashion. Among Scientologists, the term is pejorative, and comparable in meaning to heretic. In practice, the hierarchy of the Church of Scientology uses it to describe all of those who practice Scientology outside the Church. The Scientology Parishioners League website describes the Free Zone movement as "a small clique of ex-members who are no longer in the Church and now seek to spread lies about their former religion". They go on to note that apostasy is common with all religions, and that the motive for Free Zone to attack the Church is that "they are in it for the money, since they hope they can persuade Scientologists in good standing with the Church to leave and join them instead."

The League's website displays what appears to be an affidavit (although with author's name removed) in which it is claimed that the allegations of Free Zone groups (and other Scientology critics as well) are crafted so they can cannot be objectively disproven" because the Church is put "in the impossible position of trying to prove a negative and trying to prove without documentation".

The Church of Scientology has used copyright and trademark laws against various Free Zone groups. Accordingly, the Free Zone avoids the use of officially trademarked Scientology words, including 'Scientology' itself. In 2000, the Religious Technology Center unsuccessfully attempted to gain the Web domain www.scientologie.org from the WIPO, in a legal action against the Free Zone.

Many Free Zone advocates say that everyone has the right to freely practice the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard, whether sanctioned by the Church or not. In support of this they cite Hubbard himself:

Dianetics is not in any way covered by legislation anywhere, for no law can prevent one man sitting down and telling another man his troubles, and if anyone wants a monopoly on dianetics, be assured that he wants it for reasons which have to do not with dianetics but with profit.

—L. Ron Hubbard, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (1950)