Bloggerheads And Other Top Blogs (Temporarily) Off-Line

Note: This post is continually being updated. Please check back for updates.Image courtesy of Matt Buck under CC license

I am just returning from a blogging hiatus to help pass on this important message. The following is lifted from Chicken Yoghurt:

Public Service Announcement

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.

Read on

This doesn't just affect Tim but also a family of websites that he and Clive look after including:

• Craig Murray
• Boris Johnson
• Bop Piper
• The UK Today
  

This action has left Tim without email so Justin is offering to pass on any messages by phone (you can find his email on his website). Hopefully some of these sites will be back on-line soon (about 48 hours inshallah). Tim and Clive are searching for a new web host for their blogs. Please pass this message on if you have a blog. With the access these bloggers have to the mainstream media, I can't help thinking that the possible future owner of Arsenal football club has scored an own goal.

For some background into this episode check out Alisher Usmanov, the Uzbek oligarch who's trying to take control of Arsenal football club (warning: he and his team of shysters edit the Wikipedia entry). In the absence of the the aforementioned blogs, only Obsolete is left to give a clear picture of the slimeball behind this attack on freedom of speech. His posts on the subject can be found here, here and here. Suffice to say that Alisher Usmanov is close to Islom Karimov, the president of Uzbekistan (ally of the UK and USA) who gets his kicks from having his subjects raped with broken bottles or boiled to death. Given Alisher Usmanov and his legal team's enthusiasm for bullying anyone who has anything less than flattering to say about this wonderful person, I won't go into the allegations of criminality reported by sources far more reliable than Schillings. For now I'll just lament the apparent introduction of Uzbekistan's interpretation of the concept of freedom of speech here in the UK and wonder how this will affect a great British institution like Arsenal football club.

More bloggage on this from: Blairwatch, Curious Hamster, Ten Percent, Iain Dale, Pickled Politics, Arseblog, Devil's Kitchen, Pitch Invasion, Tim Worstall, Obsolete, Mediawatchwatch, Wonko's World, Mr Eugenides, Harry's Place, Dizzy Thinks, Cynical Chatter From The Underworld, Earthquake Cove, Turbulent Cleric, Mike Power, Jailhouse Lawyer, The Cartoonist, Falco, LFCM: Casualty Monitor (also here), Forever Expat, Drink-soaked Trots, Roll A Monkey, Caroline Hunt, Westminster Wisdom, Chris K, Anorak, Norfolk Blogger, Chris Paul, Indymedia, Tom Watson, Reactionary Snob, Daily Mail Watch, Our Kingdom-Open Democracy, The Crossed Pond, Tygerland, Lunartalks, Marginalized Action Dinosaur, Modernity Blog, Rebellion Sucks, All About Nothing, Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe, An Englishman's Castle, Samantha Gordon & Me, Ordovicius, England Expects, Serious Golmal, The Perfect Pitch, Dave Cole, Lenin's Tomb, Politics In The Zeros, Nosemonkey, Blood & Treasure, PJC Journal, The Lone Voice, Identity Unknown, Beau Bo D'Or, Sinclair's Musings, The Select Society, Liberal England, Davblog, Peter Gasston, Graeme’s, Sim-O's Random Thoughts, Matt Wardman, Love and Garbage, The Huntsman, Conservative Party Reptile, Ellee Seymour, Sabretache, Not A Sheep, Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion, The People’s Republic Of Newport, Life, the Universe & Everything, Arsenal Transfer Rumour Mill, The Green Ribbon, The Last Ditch, Areopagitica, Football in Finland, Freeborn John, Eursoc, The Back Four, Scots and Independent, The Splund, Bill Cameron, Podnosh, Dodgeblogium, Moving Target, Goonerholic, The Spine, Zero Point Nine, The Durruti Column, The Bristol Blogger, ArseNews, David Lindsay, Quaequam Blog!, On A Quiet Day…, Kathz’s Blog, Theo Spark, Duncan Borrowman, Senn’s Blog, Katykins, Jewcy, Kevin Maguire, Stumbling and Mumbling, Famous for 15 megapixels, AOL Fanhouse, Doctor Vee, The Curmudgeonly, The Poor Mouth, 1820, Hangbitch, Crooked Timber, ArseNole, Liberty Alone, Amused Cynicism, Clairwil, Tampon Teabag, Special/Blown It, The Remittance Man, 18 Doughty Street, D-Notice, Kate's Blog, Tim Worstall (on his shiny new site), more from Ten Percent, more from Ordovicius, The Judge, Indigo Jones Blogs, Disillusioned And Bored, Poldraw, more from Drink-soaked Trots, The Exile, another great post from Obsolete, Spy Blog (recommended), Postman Patel, Political Penguin, Laban Tall, Martin Bright, poons, Jangliss, Who Knows Where Thoughts Come From?, Imagined Community, A Pint of Unionist Lite, Error Gorilla, Swiss Metablog, Kate Garnwen Truemors, Asn14, Miserable Old Fart, Jottings, fridgemagnet, Blah Blah Flowers, J. Arthur MacNumpty, Tony Hatfield, Grendel, Charlie Whitaker, Matt Buck, The Waendel Journal, SoccerLens, Toblog, John Brissenden East Lower, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Peter Black AM, Boing Boing, BLTP, Gunnerblog, LFB UK, Liberal Revolution, Wombles, Focus on Sodbury…, Follow The Money, Freedom and Whisky, Melting Man, PoliticalHackUK, Simon Says…, From The Barrel Of A Gun, Up North John, Nourishing Obscurity, Gizmonaut, more from Chris Paul, Dave Weeden, more from The Cartoonist, Journalist Und Optimist, The Armchair News Blog, The Fourth Place, Daily EM, Francis Sedgemore, Naqniq, Bristol Indymedia, Spin and Spinners, Marginalia, Arnique, Heather Yaxley, The Whiskey Priest, On The Beat, Paul Canning, Martin Stabe, Mat Bowles, Pigdogfucker, Rachel North, El Galés, Liberal Democrat Voice, e-clectig, Vino, more from Podnosh, Moninski, Freunde der offenen Gesellschaft, Samizdata, more from Swiss Metablog, Noodle, Kerching, more from Daily EM, Sicily Scene, I Blog, You Blog, They Blog Weblog, Colcam (also here), more from Random Thoughts, Can't Silence Us All, Alisher Usmanov, Rossinisbird, Bel Is Thinking, Transfattyacid, Atlantic Free Press (also here), Tailrank, UFO Breakfast Recipients, Registan.net, A Very British Dude, Slate, The Home Of Football, Lobster Blogster (also here, here, here and here),Boriswatch, Bloggerheads: The Alisher Usmanov Affair, Dan Hardie, Chris Applegate, Committee To Protect Bloggers, William Bowles, Christopher Glamorgan, Spreeblick, Krusenstern, Skuds' Sister's Brother, Contrast News, Moon of Alabama,... More links as I find them. This is beginning to look like an 'I am Spartacus' moment and the list of Spartaci (is that the right plural?) is still growing- and rightly so because this affects us all.

*UPDATE*

Unity at Ministry of Truth has some interesting thoughts on how to deal with Britain's pernicious libel laws.

*UPDATE 2*

It seems that the mighty Schillings aren't mighty enough to deal with Google Cache. Here is Tim's post on the firm. Oh, and Craig Murray's post on Alisher Usmanov is all over the internet. It will be interesting to read what Boris Johnson, a member of Parliament and London Mayoral candidate, has to say when his blog comes back on-line.

*UPDATE 3*

The Mainstream media have not yet covered this story but there is some recent background coverage which suggests that they may well pick up on this. The Independent, The Times and The Guardian have articles.

*UPDATE 4*

The Mainstream media is starting to take an interest. The Guardian has mentioned it and Sunny from Pickled Politics will be on More 4 News tonight (21 September) at 8pm speaking about this and freedom of speech on the web. Boris Johnson MP is not amused:

Mr Johnson hit out at the closure of his website, calling it "a serious erosion of free speech".

"This is London, not Uzbekistan," the former Spectator editor and MP for Henley-on-Thames said.

"It is unbelievable that a website can be wiped out on the say-so of some tycoon.

"We live in a world where internet communication is increasingly vital, and this is a serious erosion of free speech."

*UPDATE 5*

More thoughts from Unity, this time on the methods used by Schillings.

*UPDATE 6*

The list of bloggers expressing their disgust at the antics of Alisher Usmanov and his pack of Rotweillers is growing at a fantastic rate with many of the posts including Craig Murray's original comments about this (alleged) Uzbek gangster. Now, bearing this in mind, how successful does this intimidation campaign against bloggers look? Has it protected the reputation of Alisher Usmanov or confirmed it? Here's another question: Do Schillings look like the "Leading Law Firm" they say they are, or do they more closely resemble a bunch of second rate ambulance chasers? If I was Alisher Usmanov I'd sack them.

*UPDATE 7*

There is now a Facebook group which you can join called 'Craig Murray's blog should return' Do feel free to join it. Let's see if Alisher Usmanov and his legal bullies manage to silence that.

*UPDATE 8*

I think now is a good time to reproduce the original post by Craig Murray which started this storm:

Alisher Usmanov, potential Arsenal chairman, is a Vicious Thug, Criminal, Racketeer, Heroin Trafficker and Accused Rapist

I thought I should make my views on Alisher Usmanov quite plain to you. You are unlikely to see much plain talking on Usmanov elsewhere in the media becuase he has already used his billions and his lawyers in a pre-emptive strike. They have written to all major UK newspapers, including the latter:

“Mr Usmanov was imprisoned for various offences under the old Soviet regime. We wish to make it clear our client did not commit any of the offences with which he was charged. He was fully pardoned after President Mikhail Gorbachev took office. All references to these matters have now been expunged from police records . . . Mr Usmanov does not have any criminal record.”

Let me make it quite clear that Alisher Usmanov is a criminal. He was in no sense a political prisoner, but a gangster and racketeer who rightly did six years in jail. The lawyers cunningly evoke “Gorbachev”, a name respected in the West, to make us think that justice prevailed. That is completely untrue.

Usmanov’s pardon was nothing to do with Gorbachev. It was achieved through the growing autonomy of another thug, President Karimov, at first President of the Uzbek Soviet Socilist Republic and from 1991 President of Uzbekistan. Karimov ordered the “Pardon” because of his alliance with Usmanov’s mentor, Uzbek mafia boss and major international heroin overlord Gafur Rakimov. Far from being on Gorbachev’s side, Karimov was one of the Politburo hardliners who had Gorbachev arrested in the attempted coup that was thwarted by Yeltsin standing on the tanks outside the White House.

Usmanov is just a criminal whose gangster connections with one of the World’s most corrupt regimes got him out of jail. He then plunged into the “privatisation” process at a time when gangster muscle was used to secure physical control of assets, and the alliance between the Russian Mafia and Russian security services was being formed.

Usmanov has two key alliances. he is very close indeed to President Karimov, and especially to his daughter Gulnara. It was Usmanov who engineered the 2005 diplomatic reversal in which the United States was kicked out of its airbase in Uzbekistan and Gazprom took over the country’s natural gas assets. Usmanov, as chairman of Gazprom Investholdings paid a bribe of $88 million to Gulnara Karimova to secure this. This is set out on page 366 of Murder in Samarkand [hyperlink added].

Alisher Usmanov had risen to chair of Gazprom Investholdings because of his close personal friendship with Putin, He had accessed Putin through Putin’s long time secretary and now chef de cabinet, Piotr Jastrzebski. Usmanov and Jastrzebski were roommates at college. Gazprominvestholdings is the group that handles Gazproms interests outside Russia, Usmanov’s role is, in effect, to handle Gazprom’s bribery and sleaze on the international arena, and the use of gas supply cuts as a threat to uncooperative satellite states.

Gazprom has also been the tool which Putin has used to attack internal democracy and close down the independent media in Russia. Gazprom has bought out - with the owners having no choice - the only independent national TV station and numerous rgional TV stations, several radio stations and two formerly independent national newspapers. These have been changed into slavish adulation of Putin. Usmanov helped accomplish this through Gazprom. The major financial newspaper, Kommersant, he bought personally. He immediately replaced the editor-in-chief with a pro-Putin hack, and three months later the long-serving campaigning defence correspondent, Ivan Safronov, mysteriously fell to his death from a window.

All this, both on Gazprom and the journalist’s death, is set out in great detail here [hyperlink added]

Usmanov is also dogged by the widespread belief in Uzbekistan that he was guilty of a particularly atrocious rape, which was covered up and the victim and others in the know disappeared. The sad thing is that this is not particularly remarkable. Rape by the powerful is an everyday hazard in Uzbekistan, again as outlined in Murder in Samarkand page 120. If anyone has more detail on the specific case involving Usmanov please add a comment.

I reported back in 2002 or 2003 in an Ambassadorial top secret telegram to the Foreign Office that Usmanov was the most likely favoured successor of President Karimov as totalitarian leader of Uzbekistan. I also outlined the Gazprom deal (before it happened) and the present by Usmanov to Putin (though in Jastrzebski’s name) of half of Mapobank, a Russian commercial bank owned by Usmanov. I will never forget the priceless reply from our Embassy in Moscow. They said that they had never even heard of Alisher Usmanov, and that Jastrzebski was a jolly nice friend of the Ambassador who would never do anything crooked.

Sadly, I expect the football authorities will be as purblind. Football now is about nothing but money, and even Arsenal supporters - as tight-knit and homespun a football community as any - can be heard saying they don’t care where the money comes from as long as they can compete with Chelsea.

I fear that is very wrong. Letting as diseased a figure as Alisher Usmanov into your club can only do harm in the long term.

*UPDATE 9*

Did I mention that you can buy 'Murder In Samarkand' here or by clicking the button in the left sidebar?

*UPDATE 10*

From a comment by arsenews.com over at Chicken Yogurt:

If you find any IP addresses from the range
217.33.207.160 - 217.33.207.191
in your logs, they’re Schillings. Just thought you’d like to know that.

http://www.zoneedit.com/whois.html?zone=217.33.207.164

*UPDATE 11*

This story is no longer confined to the UK, it has now gone international. Here is a post from Switzerland and here is one from China, a country well acquainted with internet censorship. Way to go Schillings!

*UPDATE 12*

The Channel 4 News report (with video):

If Usmanov thought that was the end of it, it wasn't.

Over the last 24 hours it's become an internet cause celebre. Craig Murray has found some highly unlikely allies from across the political spectrum.

Over 100 high-profile bloggers have now posted on it and, as we found, some are brazenly posting the original Craig Murray article that started this all off.

Ahahahahahahahaha!!!!

More coverage from the Times.

*UPDATE 13*

Here are some of Craig Murray's last posts before his site vanished (via Google Cache). Scroll down a bit to find this...

Yet More Schillings Bollocks

On my article about Alisher Usmanov which so incensed his lawyers Schillings, let me ask this question. Has anybody seen an argument posted or published from any credible source to argue that what I say about Usmanov is untrue?

I ask the question because one of the edits to this log my webhost made at Schillings' behest was to say that my claim was "regarded as false by many people". I have altered that edit, because there is no justification for such a claim. I have yet to see evidence of anybody, not one solitary person, arguing that I am wrong about Usmanov, other than his lawyers. Who are these "Many people", and why are they peculiarly silent?

I am very sympathetic to my webhost having to change things for Schillings, but not to the extent of altering things to become defamatory of me!!!

...and a bit further down for this (unfortunately out of date and proved wrong - I'm referring to Fasthosts obviously)

September 13, 2007

Censorship

Just to make plain that I have great webhosts who have been extremely supportive in all kinds of circumstances, 24 hours a day. They have wider responsibilities and I have no problem with their taking down or amending my stuff when they get their umpteenth bullying letter from ultra well paid bluffers and extortionists Schillings.

In case it too vanishes, it's saved as a pdf file you can get from here.

*UPDATE 14*

You can now get some lovely blog buttons to decorate your sidebars. From Matt Wardman we have these (please go over there to get the code):

Mike Power has created these buttons (see the left sidebar under "Action Stations"):

Unity at Ministry Of Truth has created these:

Hmmm, decisions decisions. I'm spoiled for choice.

*UPDATE 15*

Unsurprisingly, it seems that Schillings are snooping around the blogs. I found this update on Francis Sedgemore's blog:

Update

Schillings is trawling the blogs via IP 217.33.207.164. Learned friends looking for more bloggers to bully?

That was pretty predictable, but more disturbing was this comment from Septicisle:

Thanks for the IP, added it to my stats labelling. They came to me via the Nether-World.

So the shysters have been snooping around this blog. Again, hardly surprising but sobering nonetheless. After checking my stats I found out that Schillings came to this blog via Cynical Chatter From The Underworld and hung around for a whopping 5 hours 41 mins 14 secs before pissing off to snoop on others. They did this at 9:56am on September 21st and they also checked out Politics In The Zeros (who blogs from the USA and is presumably safe from their bullying).

Well I'm still on-line so far. It certainly isn't inconceivable that this blog could get shut down but Google are big and Schillings will have a job doing it, not least because I haven't violated their Terms of Service. Of course if a large number of blogs get pulled then this story will become big news very quickly indeed, something even an incompetent law firm like Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel Schillings ought to realise. I'll make a back up of this post and put it on the mirror site I have reserved for such emergencies if it does mysteriously vanish. As we know, the last thing Usmanov wants is a court case where Craig Murray could get called as a witness.

For people worried about unwanted attention, it is possible to block a number of IP addresses so that the unwelcome visitor is redirected to a webpage of your choice when a blocked IP address is used (I'm thinking of using this one). Schillings IP addresses range from 217.33.207.160 - 217.33.207.191. Blocking them won't stop determined Rotweillers but it will cause inconvenience (time is money after all) and it's worth it just for that.

*UPDATE 16*

Bob Piper is back! Well sort of anyway. I read his post on Google Reader but when I tried to get to his page from there, I got a screen saying "Internal Server Error". I did manage to get to his site from my blogroll but I got the same error message when I tried to leave a comment welcoming him back. So if you're reading this Bob, welcome back to blogland. I'm sure these errors are just glitches that will disappear soon. Anyway, this is of what he has to say:

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 another server. If anyone is looking for a webhost then I would heartily recommend Clive at UK Today (Although you cannot get there at the minute). Anyway, it makes a change to be attracting attention for something I hadn't said.... although the Leader of Sandwell Council will probably have blown a gasket when he saw my name caught up in all of this.

Thanks to everyone who has supported the campaign for Tim and Craig, particularly Justin who kicked it all off. The list below is from Justin's site. Also many thanks to those who offered me webspace or to be a guest poster, the good folks at Blairwatch, Cassilis and John Hirst were particularly encouraging. As Tom Watson said, this Usamov creature must be one hell of a unifier if he can get Iain Dale writing in support of Tim Ireland's free speech.... perhaps now Iain will allow Tim back on his own comments in the new spirit of glastnost.

Let's hope Tim, Clive, Craig and Boris return soon.

*UPDATE 17*

No prizes for guessing what's the "Story of the Week" on the latest BritBlog Roundup (hosted by Liberal England).

*UPDATE 18*

Isn't it interesting how little coverage there has been in the mainstream media of this issue? Apart from More 4 News, The Times and The Guardian there has been silence while this controversy has raged across the internet. I hope this changes soon. By increasing the coverage in the blogosphere we can hopefully force the MSM to do its job despite the bluffing by Schillings. The BBC have been useless on this. It can produce a lengthly piece about Usmanov increasing his stake in Arsenal without even obliquely referring to the controversy surrounding him.

*UPDATE 19*

Boris Johnson is now back on-line. Welcome back Boris! I hope the prominent MP and London Mayoral candidate will have something to say soon about Mr Creosote, his pack of shysters and the cowardly Fasthosts. Until he does decide to comment, we have the statement he made at the start of this saga:

"This is London, not Uzbekistan. It is unbelievable that a website can be wiped out on the say-so of some tycoon. We live in a world where internet communication is increasingly vital, and this is a serious erosion of free speech."

Tim Ireland still isn't on-line just yet but his Bloggerheads site is displaying a test message which is encouraging. No sign of Craig Murray and Clive Summerfield yet.

*UPDATE 20*

I meant to blog this earlier today but didn't.

Interim Statement from Clive Summerfield and Tim Ireland:

We’d like to thank you all for your support and let you all know just what the hell has been going on, but we beg your patience as we continue with the practical measures required before we can fully and confidently speak our minds about this matter.

Our immediate priority is the restoration of the websites involved; this has been greatly complicated by the sudden closure of the entire account (as opposed to, say, the suspension or closure of the two websites directly involved in the Usmanov dispute). This total - and totally unexpected - withdrawal of service requires us to restore many websites with differing individual circumstances and formats. The removal of email used for the majority of these accounts has also further complicated matters, as the most immediate form of communication between many of the parties involved is no longer available.

Bob Piper is already back on deck, and we expect Boris Johnson’s weblog to be up and running shortly. Special arrangements are being made for Craig Murray as we speak.

A full statement is likely to follow the restoration of Bloggerheads and/or The UK Today, as it is at one of these websites that we would wish to host a full statement and manage the expected response.

*UPDATE 21*

Some more media coverage to add to these: More 4 News, The Times and The Guardian. The Register has produced a couple of articles, this one and a much more in-depth one here with some glorious fighting talk from Craig Murray (via):

Former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray has vowed to carry on making allegations against billionaire Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov, despite attempts to silence him and his supporters.

Murray told The Reg: "If the man believes he was libelled then he should take me to court."

Well, quite! The article ends with:

The new hosting has been arranged separately from the rest of Summerfield's sites - Murray believes that Usmanov's lawyers are trying to make him back down by attacking others.

We asked Murray if he intends to stay on Usmanov's back. He replied: "There is room on Usmanov's back for an awful lot of people. You could get even more on his stomach, and possibly lose some under the overlap of his chins."

We think that's a "yes".

Fantastic! Associated Press has also covered the story which means it's now found its way into the Moscow Times. I wonder if that publication has received threatening letters from the shysters. Now it looks like Mr Creosote and his clumsy law firm have another problem. From PJC Journal and England Expects, I'm hearing that the allegations against this (alleged) gangster will be heard in the European Parliament.

Tonight, during the Saryusz-Wolski report "Towards a common European foreign policy on energy" the Euro realist MEP Tom Wise will use parliamentary privilege to spell out the allegations against Alisher Usmanov. He has been talking to Craig Murray to ensure that the allegations are accurate and to the point.

The purpose of the debate is to discuss the creation of a single energy policy for Europe controlled by an European Energy Minister (or in Eurocratese a "High Official").

As Mr Usmanov is in the words of Murray who "who ordered the cutting off of supplies to Georgia earlier this year" this is extremely relevant to the debate.

Under the rules governing parliamentary privilege, any news organisation can repeat what has been said in the Parliament chamber, allowing the MSM to circumvent the legal threats being thrown about by Usmanov's lawyers Schillings.

Is that the sound of toys being thrown out of prams that I'm hearing?

Tags: Freedom of Speech, Islom Karimov, Alisher Usmanov, Blogging, Arsenal