I’m a bit late, but would like to register my support for Tim Ireland, the author of Bloggerheads. His blog has been forced offline because he had the temerity to write some things that were displeasing to a certain ex-convict from Uzbekistan.
Very worrying. Tim hadn’t written anything libellous, but Alisher Usmanov (the aforementioned Uzbek) is a really touchy fellow with a lot of money. Following dark threats from his lawyers, Tim’s webhosts panicked and pulled the plug on his blog, and for good measure, also took down a few other blogs that were being managed by Tim.
This is truly disconcerting. As Mr Eugenides very splendidly put it:
If you can be silenced for calling a businessman a crook, then you can be silenced for calling a politician a crook, too. Then it’s everyone’s problem.
Tim should be back online soon, no doubt with a hosting company with proper backbone. Looking forward to the return of Bloggerheads.
For more details on this story, check out Chicken Yoghurt.
