Friday, September 21, 2007

A Blogging Desert

Legal Threats

I had links to the important blogs operated by Bob Piper and Craig Murray. When I click into these now I am told "This page cannot be displayed".

What has occured is that Craig Murray posted an item in which he criticised Alisher Usmanov the Russian/Uzbekh billionaire who is trying to take control of Arsenal Football Club and currently holds 21% of its shares.

Schillings, a leading London law firm issued a legal threat on behalf of Usmanov to Fastnet Internet Limited who then pulled the plug on Craig Murray's blog (and on that of Tim Ireland who had acted in a similar way to Craig in criticising Usmanov).

Bob Piper's blog (and that of others including Boris Johnson) also went down, merely because they also use Fastnet as their host.

The disturbing nature of all this is spelt out in a fine item on Ian Dale's Blog, where a full debate is taking place in the comment box of this particular thread.

End Of A Free Service

I also have a link to what was a first rate service for political bloggers by Grant of "Political Opinions". Unfortunately, Grant has called it at day, for the reasons he explains here.

His service had provided introductions to hundreds of political blog items shortly after they were posted. A reader just had to click in to what caught the eye, to follow an item in full. There were also links to the past archives of each of the bloggers he covered.

Unfortunately, all I am able to get from what remains of this site is the following list of the blog titles which Grant covered. I will have to Google for those I select to discover who I can link to. In time (if Grant's site does not disappear completely), I will add what category each blogger falls into - for instance; Labour, Lib Dem or Conservative. The frustrating thing is that without Grant's site being in full operation, I can't discover whether someone else with proper computer skills has already done all this - or more. PLEASE LET ME KNOW VIA MY COMMENT BOX IF ANOTHER BLOGGER HAS COVERED WHAT I AM AFTER.

For Political Bloggers, Things Aint What They Used To Be

1169 and Counting
4glengate.net
A Conservative's Blog
A Councillor Writes
A Far Fetched Resolution
A Liberal Dose
A News and Politics Blog ...
A Petrosexual's Tuppence
A Place To Stand
A Very British Dude
Aberystwyth CF
Abolish the GMC
About Whose News
Action-without-theory
Adam Boulton
Adam Haigh
Adam Smith Institute
Adele Reynolds
Adrian Monck
Adrian Yalland
Aidan Maconachy
Alan Beddow
Alan Muhammed
Alex Fisher
Alex Wilcock
Ali Miraj
All About Nothing
All Saints Gazette
Allan Andrews
Alun Cairns AM
Alun Pugh AM
Amusingly Shaped Turnips
An Englishman's Castle
And Then He Said
Anders Hanson
Andrea Leadsom
Andrew Allison
Andrew Brown
Andrew Garner
Andrew Milton
Andrew Percy
Andrew Woodman
Andy D'Agorne
Andy Mayer
Andy Reed MP
Ann's Sedgley Blog
Anne Snelgrove MP
Anthony McEweon
Antoine Clarke's Election Watch
Antonia's Blog
Antony Little
Anyone But Ken
Arsembly
Arwen Folkes
As a Dodo
Austin Mitchell MP
Average guy on the street
Backing Blair
Baggage Reclaim
Bailey Blog
Bala Fr/a>
Ballots Balls & Bikes
Barry's Beef
Bart Ricketts
BBC News
Beau Bo D'Or
Bedworth Liberal Democrats
Bel is Thinking
Benedict Brogan
Bernard Wooley
Best News First
Big Stick & Small Carrot
Bill's Comment Page
Birmingham University Labour Students
BirminghamiNS
Bishop Hill
Black Country Boy
Black Triangle
Blair's Britain
BlairSupporter
Blairwatch
blamerbell
Blazing Cat Fur
Bloggerheads
Bloggers 4 Labour
Blogging 4 Merton
Blognor Regis
Blogzilla
Blue Shark TV
Blunt & Disorderly
Bob From Brockley
Bob Piper
Boris Johnson MP
Bread and Circuses
Brentwood, Essex, England
Brian Barder
Bristling Badger
Burning Our Money
Campaign for an English Parliament
Campaign for an English Parliament
Cardiff Respect
Caroline Hunt
Cassilis
Chameleons on Bicycles
Charles Anglin
Charlie Marks
Chicken Yoghurt
Choice Cuts
Chris & Glynis Abbott
Chris Doidge
Chris Paul: Labour of Love
Chris Rossdale
Chris Whiteside
Christian Political Forum
Ciara Leeming
Cicero's Songs
Civitas
Claire Palmer
Clive Davis
Cllr Paul Hopfensperger
Cllr Philip Booth
Cllr Sue Luxton
Colin Ross
Conservative Future TV
Conservative History
Conservative Home
Conservative Party Reptile
Contra Tory
Corruption is a Crime
Councillor Steve Wakefield
Coventry Conservatives
Craig Murray
Cranmer
Croydon Against The Arena
Croydon Greens
Croydonian
Cunning Title
Curly's Corner Shop
Cynical Chatter
Daily Pundit
Daily Referendum
Dan Hassett
Daniel Finkelstein
Daniel Hayward
Danvers Baillieu
Darlington Councillor
Dave Hill
Dave's Part
David Aaronovitch
David Davies MP
David Heathfield
David Miliband MP
David Nikel
David Rennie
David Smith
David Walker
DavidP
Dear Julie Morgan MP
Deirdre Alden
Despatch Blog
Devil's Kitchen
Dirty Leftie
Disillusioned and Bored
Dizzy Thinks
Don Paskini
Don't trip up
Donal Blaney
Dont Mention the Gravy Train
Double Negative
Drinking from Home
Duncan Borrowman
Dunderheadedness
Eaten by Missionaries
Ed Vaizey
Educational Conscription
EIP News
Ellee Seymour
Elliott Joseph
Emily Thornberry MP
Eric Avebury
Eric Lee
Esther McVey
EU Referendum
Europhobia
EURSOC
Fair Deal Phil
FibDems
Fiona Colley
Fisking Central
Flip Chart Fairy Tales
Flock Together
Fora
Forceful & Moderate
Frank Chalk
Fraser Macpherson
Freedom & Whiskey
Freemania
From Socialite to Socialist
From the Right Side
Garden Grabbing in Wales
Gareth Griffiths
Gavin Ayling
General Theory of Rubbish
Ghandi's Steakhouse
Global Dashboard
Global Warming Hysteria
Godfrey Lazarus
Golden Strawberry
Gordon Labour News
Grant Thoms
Guido Fawkes
Guildford Lib Dems - halve truths and lies
GUTHRUM
Guy Burton
Gweirdo
Harriet Harman MP
Harrowgate Hill Blog
Harry Barnes
Harry's Place
Havering On
Hengis
Henry North London
Hidden Ireland
Hilary Benn MP
Hilton Global Initiative
Holyrood Chronicles
Home Office Watch
Hot Ginger & Dynamite
House of Dumb
Hug A Hoodie
Hunter and Shooter
Iain Dale
Iain Lindley
Iain Rubie Dale
iBlog
Inconsiderate Parking
Inner West
Islington Conservatives
Istanbul Tory
J Arthur Macnumpty
Jacob Peas Murgatroid
Jageet Singh-Sohal
jailhouselawyer
James Cleverly
Jane Griffiths
Jane's Blog
Jeff Peel
Jeffrey Archer
Jim Bliss
Jo Christie-Smith
Jo Salmon
Jock Coats
Joe Mooney
Joe Otten
John Hemming MP
John McDonnell MP
John Moorcraft
John Redwood's Diary
John Tyrrell
John Wilkes
John's Labour blog
Jon Cruddas
Jon Worth Euroblog
Jonathan Bishop
Jonathan Wallace
Joyce Goes to London
Julie Morgan MP
Justified Spinner
Keep Tony Blair For PM
Ken Frost
Ken Taylor
Kerron Cross
Kevin Davis
Kevin Foster
Kezia Dugdale
Kirklees Unity
Kop Lob Pob a Job
Laban Tall
Labour Home
Labour Humanist
Labour Watch
Lancaster UAF
Lee Gregory
Leighton Andrews AM
Leila Kiersch
Lenin's Tomb
Let’s Be Sensible
LibDem Blogs
Liberal (Not so) Alone
Liberal Action
Liberal Burblings
Liberal Bureaucracy
Liberal Democrat Voice
Liberal Drinks
Liberal England
Liberal Legend
Liberal Leslie
Liberal Review
Liberty and Law Journal
Linguanaut.co.uk - Damon Lord's Blog
Lisa Chambers
Lobster Blogster
Lochore LibDem
Londonspot
Lord Garden
Lord Hanningfield
Lord Lucas
Lord of the Blog (Clive Soley)
Louise Baldock
Lucy Allan
Luke Akehurst
Luke Young
Lynne Featherstone
Mad Musings of Me
Make Socialism History
Maltheus's Musings
Man in a Shed
Marcus Wood
Mark Clarke
Mark Crail
Mark Young
Marlyn Glen MSP
Mars Hill
Martin Bright
Martin Eaglestone
Martine Martin
Mary Reid
Matt Buck's Hack Cartoons
Matt Davies
Matt Marks
Matt Palmer
Matt Withers
Matthew Dean
MAXINE
MayorWatch
Mediocracy
Melanie Philips
Michael Joslin
Michael Meacher
Michelle Wiseman
MicroShaft
Mike Cartwright
Mike Cunningham
Mike Ion
Mikey's Tent of Reality
Militant Moderate
Millennium Dome Elephant
Mind Robber
Ming Campbell
Ministry of Agitation & Propaganda
Ministry of Truth
Miranda Grell
Miscellany Symposium
Miserable Old Fart
MKNE Political Information
Mohammed Shafiq
Monkey with a blue rosette
Moonlight over Essex
Morag the Mindbender
Mr Eugenides
muckspReading
Musings Of A Disheartened Doctor
My tale of me
My tale of me
Nadine Dorries MP
NatWatch
Neil Harding
Neil Woolcott
Neocon Express
Nether-world
New Jerusalem
New Model Democracy
Newer Labour
NHS Blog Doctor
Nick Barlow
Nick Cohen
Nick Colbourne
Nick King
Nick King
Nick Robinson
Nigel Ashton
Nigel Fletcher
Nighthawk
Nightowl
Niles's Blog
No Geek Is An Island
No Incinerator in Cardiff Bay
Noelinho
Norfolk Blogger
Normblog
Not Saussure
Notes from a Bedsit Room
Notes from a Small Bedroom
Notes from the Panopticon
Nuke Labour
Obsolete
Old Dead Presidents
Oliver Kamm
Oliver's Battery & Badger Farm
Olly Onions
Olly's Onions
On Liberty Online
Open Secrets
Opinionated Voice
Organized Rage
Our Kingdom team
Out From Under
Outside Story
Parburypolitica
Parliamentary Questions
Patriccus
Paul Anderson (Gauche)
Paul Crossley
Paul Evans
Paul Johnston
Paul Kingsnorth
Paul Leake
Paul Linford
Paul Massey
Paul Pritchard
Paul Uppal
Paula Keaveney
Pensions Reform
People's Republic Of Newport
Perfect.co.uk
Pete
Pete
Peter Black
Peter C Glover
Peter C Glover's Wires
Peter Hitchens
Peter Porcupine
Peter Risdon
Peter Sanderson
Picking Losers...
Pickled Politics
Pigeon Post
Pink Dog
PJC Journal
Plague of Opinion
plooptionary
Policeman's Blog
Politaholic
Political Betting
Political Crossroads
Political Doodle Sketch
Political Hack UK
Political Ice Cream
Political Opinions
Politics for Beginners
Polly Toynbee Fact Checker
Pommygranate
Pootergeek
Popular Alliance
Prague Tory
Progressive Politics
Progressive UK
Pub Philosopher
Public Interest
Punch
Quaequam
Quentin Langley
Rachel from north London
Raw Carrott
Rayleen Kelly
Reactionary Snob
Real Labour Blogger
Recess Monkey
Red Anorak
Red Squirrel's Lair
Remember Stalingrad!
Remittance Man
Republic of Hyde Park
Resurgent Liberal
Revolts
Rhod on Public Affairs
Rhondda Today
Richard Allan
Richard Berry
Richard Corbett MEP
Richard Thomas
Rick's St Mary's Diary
Ridiculous Politics
Right Thinking
RISE LIKE LIONS
Riverside Views
Road to EU Serfdom
Rob Fenwick
Rob Newman
Rob Shorrock
Robert Wright
Romsey Redhead
Ryan Cullen
S J Howard
Sabretache
Sadiq Khan MP
Sajjad Karim MEP
Sandals are Off
Sandwell Labour Students
School and Family Learning
Scots and Independent
Scotswahey!
Scottish Ranter
SELECT Privacy
Sepoy Agent
Shaphan
Shaun Woodward MP
Simon Jeram
Simon Wilson
Skipper
Skuds' Sister's Brother
Slugger O'Toole
Sneds
Snowflake 5
Social Affairs Unit
Social Europe Blog
Softy Lefty Catchy Monkey
Some Random Thoughts...
South Belfast Diary
SouthpawPunch
Splintered Sunrise
Splintered Sunrise
Spy Blog
Stephen Manion
Stephen Newton's Diary of Sorts
Stephen Pollard
Stephen Tall
Stephen's Linlithgow Journal
Steve Hanlon
Steve Horgan
Stodge
Stuart Bruce
Stumbling & Mumbling
Sutton Greens
Suz Blog
Talking Hoarsly
Tangled Web
Tax Cutter
Tejus Ramakrishnan
TEMPUS UNIVERSALIS
Terry Watch
That Little Blue Home
The 3 P's
The Antagonist
The Battle for West Lancashire
The Blog of Kev
The Conservative Spaldonian
The Cowan Report
The Daily
The Daily
The Dissentators
The England Project
The Green Room
The Heretic
The Huntsman
The Jag
The Last Ditch
The Letterkenyan
The Liberal
The Liberal Republican
The Living Wage page
The Man Who Would Be King
The Nameless One
The New Culture Forum
The Opinionist
The Poor Mouth
The Psychiatrist
The Regalis Blog
The Smith Blog
the smith blog
The smoking ban is shit
The Spine
The Stirrer
The Tap
The Thimble
The UK Today
The View From Fly Over Country
The Voice of Europe
The Waendel Journal
The Wilted Rose
Theo Blackwell
Theo Spark
thetindrummer
This Scepter'd Isle
Thunder Dragon
Thurrock Tory
Tim Roll Pickering
Tim Worstall
time-4-change
To the Point
Tom Anderson
Tom Griffin
Tom Harris MP
Tom Miller
Tom Papworth
Tom Watson MP
Tommy G
Toque
Torbay Today
Tory in the Wilderness
Tory Radio
Tory Watch
Tracey Crouch
Trevor Ivory
Trevor Ivory
Tribune Cartoons
Trust People
Tygerland
UK Autism News
UK COT LIFE SOCIETY
UK Daily Pundit
UK Polling Report
UKIP@HOME
Unenlightened Commentary
Union Futures
Voice of Reason
Vote Franco
Vox Polis
Waffle Tree
Waking Hereward
Walcot Ward
Wall of Speech
webcameron: David's Blog
Welfare Reform
Welfare State We're In
Well Really
Welsh Womens Voice
West Brom Blog
West Minster Village
What Comes to Pass
What's New Pussycat?
Whiskey Priest
Wondrous World of Hevva
Wonko's World
Wordy Lefty
Wycombe Liberal Democrats
Wyken Conservatives
Yellow Peril
Yoosk:news interplay
York Press | James Alexander
Young Britons' Foundation
Young Conservative's Viewpoint
Young Wing - Michael Shilliday editor
Zanderlibra

5 comments:

mrs k said...

So that's where Bob and Craig went. I have been following the discussion for ages and wondered what had happened.

Fast to pull that sort of blog. slow to deal with porn.

Makes you wonder.

Let me know when they get up and running please.

Joe said...

Im gutted Grant of politicalopinions.co.uk has called it a day

I loved that site for allowing me to be a reader of other blogs.

Im really just a bit of a random blogger, but in terms of being a reader it is a sad day.

I agree with Mrs K about the Porn... surely it should be higher on the agenda

In an Idealistic world, Politicalopinions.co.uk wouldn't have ended as a result of this.

Its a sad day for Blogging

Joe said...

I also want to say that I wont comment as a result of the Alisher Usmanov blog ... as I never seen it and therefore do not know the whole story

Harry Barnes said...

zanderlibra: you will see that on this thread I preserved the titles of the blogs which Grant provided access to. But I am unable to provide these as links without undertaking a massive technical task which is really beyond my limited PC skills. I just hope that someone else will undertake this task and I will find their completed work on their blog. The loss of Grant's service is a serious one for me also.

If you wish to see why Usmanov took action via his lawyers, see -
http://modernityblog.wordpress.com/craig-murray/

MRS K. I am in touch with Bob by e-mail. He has been interviewed by the Indpendent and the Guardian on the matter.

Political Opinions said...

Hi everyone,

I've been away for a few days so haven't noticed the posts cropping up about my decision to close Political Opinions until now.

To be honest, I had absolutely no idea how many people used the site on a regular basis or what an impact it has had to people - the only feedback I had been getting recently were complaints or legal take down notices.

I still have the data so if anybody would like a list of the blogs I will publish them.

To be honest, part of the reason for closing the site was the cost of running it - I had never put adverts on the site because I feared a backlash from the blogging community - I didn't want people to think I setup the site to make a profit.

I'm going to have a serious think about the closure - I wonder if perhaps the site could be relaunched but minus the archive of old posts, so posts would only exist on the site for a few weeks - this would potentially allieviate alot of the legal hassles and the server costs.

If anybody would like to contact me with ideas etc.. then my email is: contact@politicalopinions.co.uk.

Thanks,

Grant