"Impartiality is a pompous name for indifference, which is an elegant name for ignorance." ~ G. K. Chesterton

tim, bob, boris, and craig have gone down

Posted: September 21st, 2007 | Author: Aaron | Filed under: asia, meta, politics, scandal, uk |

A bad day for democracy. I was about to email Tim Ireland about his blog not responding, when I read this: -

Tim Ireland’s Bloggerheads site is currently down after his webhost pulled the plug. You can thank the latest Russian (that should be Uzbek) billionaire to reach the UK. The details will come out in due course.

Bob Piper, Clive Summerfield, Boris Johnson and Craig Murray have also been effected.

We need a constitution in this country that enshrines a freedom of speech. This is case and point. Few people on the blogosphere (or wherever) have fought so vociferously for political rights in this country. Bloggerheads (obviously the site is down) is a touchstone for those who see the internet as tool for democracy. We should stand beside him. Regardless of political persuasion.

Where are our political masters in this time of need? You’ll suck off the blogosphere when it suits, now is the time to stand up and fight alongside us. This is not about anything but political freedom and our rights to investigate those who seek to shape our society.

UPDATE: From The Guardian last week (via Sunny): -

Schillings, the lawyers acting for Usmanov, have been in touch with several independent Arsenal supporters’ websites and blogs warning them to remove postings referring to allegations made against him by Craig Murray, the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan. Usmanov was jailed under the old Soviet regime but says that he was a political prisoner who was then freed and granted a full pardon once Mikhail Gorbachev came to power as president. Schillings have warned the websites that repetition of Murray’s allegations were regarded as “false, indefensible and grossly defamatory”.


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32 Comments on “tim, bob, boris, and craig have gone down”

  1. 1 Pickled Politics » Bloggers under threat said at 3:02 am on September 21st, 2007:

    [...] Nich S, Chris P, Indymedia, Obsolete, Tom W, Mr Eugenides, Morningstar, ourKingdom, Leon G, Tygerland….   |   Trackback link   |   Add to del.icio.us   |   [...]

  2. 2 jams o donnell said at 9:51 am on September 21st, 2007:

    This is bloody outrageous.

  3. 3 jams o donnell said at 10:06 am on September 21st, 2007:

    Thanks for bringing this to my attention, Tyger. I know I’m usually away with the fairies in my own little world!

    I found a transcript of some of Craig Murray’s allegation on another site. Even if only half of it is true it beggars belief.

  4. 4 Chicken Yoghurt » Public Service Announcement UPDATED said at 11:25 am on September 21st, 2007:

    [...] Liberal England, Davblog, Peter Gasston Pitch Perfect, Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe, Lunartalks, Tygerland, The Crossed Pond, Our Kingdom, Big Daddy Merk, Daily Mail Watch, [...]

  5. 5 Serious Golmal » Bloggers United Against Alisher Usmanov said at 11:49 am on September 21st, 2007:

    [...] Bloggers from across political divides are united the use of the bullying tactics of defamation law and rich plaintiffs to silence blog comment. Also on: Pickled Politics, Hamster, Blairwatch, Mike P, David T, Iain D, TC, David S, 10%, Suesam, Tim W, Dizzy, Jailhouse, Cartoonist, Falco, Monitor, Expat, Arseblog, Tom, Wonko’s World, Roll a monkey, Caroline H, Gracchii, Chris K, Anorak, Mediawatchwatch, Nich S, Chris P, Indymedia, Obsolete, Tom W, Mr Eugenides, Morningstar, ourKingdom, Leon G, Tygerland… [...]

  6. 6 tyger said at 12:19 pm on September 21st, 2007:

    Hi Jams,

    Well Craig isn’t a kook, so I’m inclined to believe he has little to gain from putting himself in this position. Only his belief in what he’s doing.

  7. 7 Missing Bloggers at Cynical Chatter From The Underworld said at 1:04 pm on September 21st, 2007:

    [...] Liberal England, Davblog, Peter Gasston Pitch Perfect, Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe, Lunartalks, Tygerland, The Crossed Pond, Our Kingdom, Big Daddy Merk, Daily Mail Watch, Graeme’s, Random Thoughts, [...]

  8. 8 jams o donnell said at 1:32 pm on September 21st, 2007:

    Once again thanks for the lead in to this Tyger. Am in the process of joining the background noise on this outrage. It really like this could blow up in Usmanov’s face. Not only that, the original piece is dead easy to find and won’t go away.

  9. 9 tyger said at 1:35 pm on September 21st, 2007:

    No worries Jams, there are many bloggers more involved than I.

    All the noise we can make is welcome. Usmanov will regret this.

  10. 10 tyger said at 1:36 pm on September 21st, 2007:

    BTW, all,

    I’m off out now. Worky worky again. :(

  11. 11 Pitch Invasion · Usmanov Raises the Stakes said at 2:29 pm on September 21st, 2007:

    [...] Liberal England, Davblog, Peter Gasston Pitch Perfect, Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe, Lunartalks, Tygerland, The Crossed Pond, Our Kingdom, Big Daddy Merk, Daily Mail Watch, Graeme’s, Random Thoughts, [...]

  12. 12 Pitch Invasion · 2007 · September · 21 said at 5:32 pm on September 21st, 2007:

    [...] Liberal England, Davblog, Peter Gasston Pitch Perfect, Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe, Lunartalks, Tygerland, The Crossed Pond, Our Kingdom, Big Daddy Merk, Daily Mail Watch, Graeme’s, Random Thoughts, [...]

  13. 13 The Perfect Pitch » Blog Archive » Usmanov shows his true colours said at 7:01 pm on September 21st, 2007:

    [...] Liberal England, Davblog, Peter Gasston Pitch Perfect, Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe, Lunartalks, Tygerland, The Crossed Pond, Our Kingdom, Big Daddy Merk, Daily Mail Watch, Graeme’s, Random Thoughts, [...]

  14. 14 Blogs down… (updated) « Samantha, Gordon, & Me said at 7:20 pm on September 21st, 2007:

    [...] Liberal England, Davblog, Peter Gasston Pitch Perfect, Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe, Lunartalks, Tygerland, The Crossed Pond, Our Kingdom, Big Daddy Merk, Daily Mail Watch, Graeme’s, Random Thoughts, [...]

  15. 15 Alisher Usmanov- Come On Feel Tha Noize! « Ten Percent said at 8:12 pm on September 21st, 2007:

    [...] Liberal England, Davblog, Peter Gasston Pitch Perfect, Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe, Lunartalks, Tygerland, The Crossed Pond, Our Kingdom, Big Daddy Merk, Daily Mail Watch, Graeme’s, Random Thoughts, [...]

  16. 16 mediawatchwatch.org.uk » Bloggerheads silenced by ex-con said at 11:40 am on September 22nd, 2007:

    [...] Liberal England, Davblog, Peter Gasston Pitch Perfect, Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe, Lunartalks, Tygerland, The Crossed Pond, Our Kingdom, Big Daddy Merk, Daily Mail Watch, Graeme’s, Random Thoughts, [...]

  17. 17 Arseblog - It’s fuckin’ excellent…an Arsenal blog - COLUMNS » Blog Archive » Usmanov’s lawyers take down websites said at 5:47 pm on September 22nd, 2007:

    [...] Liberal England, Davblog, Peter Gasston Pitch Perfect, Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe, Lunartalks, Tygerland, The Crossed Pond, Our Kingdom, Big Daddy Merk, Daily Mail Watch, Graeme’s, Random Thoughts, [...]

  18. 18 Tim Worstall » Blog Archive » Corporate Advertising The Right Way: A Message to Schillings re Alisher Usmanov said at 6:41 pm on September 22nd, 2007:

    [...] Liberal England, Davblog, Peter Gasston Pitch Perfect, Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe, Lunartalks, Tygerland, The Crossed Pond, Our Kingdom, Big Daddy Merk, Daily Mail Watch, Graeme’s, Random Thoughts, [...]

  19. 19 This is England (and Scotland and Wales) « The Bristol Blogger said at 8:40 am on September 23rd, 2007:

    [...] Liberal England, Davblog, Peter Gasston Pitch Perfect, Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe, Lunartalks, Tygerland, The Crossed Pond, Our Kingdom, Big Daddy Merk, Daily Mail Watch, Graeme’s, Random Thoughts, [...]

  20. 20 Bob Piper said at 5:23 pm on September 23rd, 2007:

    Thanks everyone…

    Well, I’m back! At the moment it would appear Boris, Tim, Craig and Clive are still down, but I know Clive has been working like a trooper since Thursday to back up all the blog files and move them to……

  21. 21 tyger said at 7:04 pm on September 23rd, 2007:

    Welcome back Bob!

    You be careful which riff-raff you hang around with in future. That Ireland, he’s nothing but trouble.

    ;)

  22. 22 Alisher Alisher Usmanov courting online PR disaster, closing down Boris Johnson et al : moninski.com: PR and beyond said at 10:16 pm on September 23rd, 2007:

    [...] Liberal England, Davblog, Peter Gasston Pitch Perfect, Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe, Lunartalks, Tygerland, The Crossed Pond, Our Kingdom, Big Daddy Merk, Daily Mail Watch, Graeme’s, Random Thoughts, [...]

  23. 23 Alisher Alisher Usmanov courting online PR disaster, closing down Boris Johnson et al : moninski.com: PR and beyond said at 10:16 pm on September 23rd, 2007:

    [...] Liberal England, Davblog, Peter Gasston Pitch Perfect, Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe, Lunartalks, Tygerland, The Crossed Pond, Our Kingdom, Big Daddy Merk, Daily Mail Watch, Graeme’s, Random Thoughts, [...]

  24. 24 Free speech should not be expunged by legal bullying! « Curly’s Corner Shop, the blog! said at 1:06 pm on September 24th, 2007:

    [...] Liberal England, Davblog, Peter Gasston Pitch Perfect, Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe, Lunartalks, Tygerland, The Crossed Pond, Our Kingdom, Big Daddy Merk, Daily Mail Watch, Graeme’s, Random Thoughts, [...]

  25. 25 Breverías I « 14 de abril said at 6:59 pm on September 24th, 2007:

    [...] Liberal England, Davblog, Peter Gasston Pitch Perfect, Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe, Lunartalks, Tygerland, The Crossed Pond, Our Kingdom, Big Daddy Merk, Daily Mail Watch, Graeme’s, Random Thoughts, [...]

  26. 26 Marginalized Action Dinosaur » Alisher Usmanov is a criminal said at 4:53 pm on September 25th, 2007:

    [...] Liberal England, Davblog, Peter Gasston Pitch Perfect, Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe, Lunartalks, Tygerland, The Crossed Pond, Our Kingdom, Big Daddy Merk, Daily Mail Watch, Graeme’s, Random Thoughts, [...]

  27. 27 Usmanov allegations repeated in European Parliament Debate byTom Wise MEP | The Wardman Wire said at 8:22 am on September 26th, 2007:

    [...] Liberal England, Davblog, Peter Gasston Pitch Perfect, Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe, Lunartalks, Tygerland, The Crossed Pond, Our Kingdom, Big Daddy Merk, Daily Mail Watch, Graeme’s, Random Thoughts, [...]

  28. 28 Three hundred and two (302) « Amused Cynicism said at 6:26 pm on September 27th, 2007:

    [...] Liberal England, Davblog, Peter Gasston Pitch Perfect, Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe, Lunartalks, Tygerland, The Crossed Pond, Our Kingdom, Big Daddy Merk, Daily Mail Watch, Graeme’s, Random Thoughts, [...]

  29. 29 Bob Piper said at 10:10 am on September 28th, 2007:

    An updated list……

    The list of bloggers highlighting the behaviour of Usmanov, Schillings and Fasthosts now stands at over 300. Justin points out that some people are apologising for coming late to the party on this one - well don’t. As he says,……

  30. 30 Ulla’s Amazing Wee Blog » Usmanov bribes journalists… said at 5:36 pm on October 5th, 2007:

    [...] Liberal England, Davblog, Peter Gasston Pitch Perfect, Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe, Lunartalks, Tygerland, The Crossed Pond, Our Kingdom, Big Daddy Merk, Daily Mail Watch, Graeme’s, Random Thoughts, [...]

  31. 31 Marginalized Action Dinosaur » Usmanov cont, said at 5:09 pm on October 13th, 2007:

    [...] Liberal England, Davblog, Peter Gasston Pitch Perfect, Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe, Lunartalks, Tygerland, The Crossed Pond, Our Kingdom, Big Daddy Merk, Daily Mail Watch, Graeme’s, Random Thoughts, [...]

  32. 32 More than fashionably late - The Alisher Usmanov Affair « The Ink said at 11:43 am on December 13th, 2007:

    [...] Liberal England, Davblog, Peter Gasston Pitch Perfect, Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe, Lunartalks, Tygerland, The Crossed Pond, Our Kingdom, Big Daddy Merk, Daily Mail Watch, Graeme’s, Random Thoughts, [...]