.. according too David Nikel and the Diary of Chis K. And local uber blogger Bob Piper is not alone according to Chris

Tim Ireland’s Bloggerheads blog has vanished this evening. Iain Dale reports that this is because Tim’s webhost withdrew its services after receiving a legal threat from an Uzbek billionaire named Alisher Usmanov. Other sites affected include www.boris-johnson.com. If this is a case of bullying billionaires vs bloggers, GO BLOGGERS!

Update 21st Sept 09.30. Chicken Yoghurt has a simple explanation of why Bob is down:

A point of clarification: Of the blogs mentioned above, only Craig Murray and Tim Ireland made blog posts concerning Alisher Usmanov. It is these blog posts that were objected to by Usmanov’s lawyers.

Boris Johnson, Bob Piper and Clive Summerfield have lost their sites for the simple reason that they were hosted on the the same server as Craig’s and Tim’s sites and went the same way when the plug was pulled. They are NOT associated with the dispute with Alisher Usmanov in any way.

How crude!
Further Update Tom Watson is now hoping Bob’s plight will unite local bloggers from across the political spectrum:

This guy Usmanov is some unifying oligarch. He’s got Iain Dale writing in support of Tim and Craig Murray. All we need now is that idiot James Graham and Prague Tory (who we should congratulate on his recent wedding) to join in and we’ve got the biggest show of holding hands since the last night of the proms.

(James – I have no opinion or your idiocy or otherwise!) Tom (himself an MP) adds that he thinks the decision of the web host company was a little hasty – given the profile of the people they’ve cut off

Unfortunately for the hotshot lawyers, one of them happens to be a democratically elected Member of Parliament with regular columns in a number of national newspapers. Oh, and he wants to be mayor of London. Who would you put your money on to win the battle of hearts and minds?

Tony at the Morning Star has compiled this hat tip list which shows the breadth of interest and bears repeating: Wonkos world, Chicken Yoghurt, Curious Hamster, Pickled Politics, Harry’s Place, Tim Worstall, Dizzy, Iain Dale, Ten Percent, Blairwatch, Davide Simonetti, Earthquake Cove, Turbulent Cleric (who suggests dropping a line to the FA about Mr Usmanov), Mike Power, Jailhouse Lawyer, Suesam, Devil’s Kitchen, The Cartoonist, Falco, Casualty Monitor, Forever Expat, Arseblog, Drink-soaked Trots, Pitch Invasion, Wonko’s World, Roll A Monkey, Caroline Hunt, Westminster Wisdom, Chris K, Anorak, Mediawatchwatch, Norfolk Blogger, Chris Paul, Indymedia (with a list of Craig Murray’s articles that are currently unavailable), Obsolete, Tom Watson, Cynical Chatter, Reactionary Snob, Mr Eugenides, Matthew Sinclair, The Select Society, 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, Nosemonkey, Matt Wardman, Politics in the Zeros, 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, Blood & Treasure, The Last Ditch, Areopagitica, Football in Finland, An Englishman’s Castle, Freeborn John, Eursoc, The Back Four, Rebellion Suck!, Ministry of Truth, ModernityBlog, Beau Bo D’Or, Scots and Independent, The Splund, Bill Cameron, Podnosh, Dodgeblogium, Moving Target, Serious Golmal, Goonerholic, The Spine, Zero Point Nine, Lenin’s Tomb, The Durruti Column, The Bristol Blogger, ArseNews, David Lindsay, Quaequam Blog!, On A Quiet Day…, Kathz’s Blog, England Expects, Theo Spark, Duncan Borrowman, Senn’s Blog ….