A site that tracked scam artists running predatory self-publishing outfits has been shut down following a complaint to its ISP.
Absolute Write is one of the leading sites for information on publishing, including scam-debunking, and it did a very good job, too. Then Barbara Bauer, an "agent" whom the site had criticized, called up the site's ISP, Nashville's JC-Hosting, and invented a bogus Digital Millennium Copyright Claim. She told the ISP that Absolute Write had exposed her to spam by publishing her email address and that this was illegal and that the ISP had to shut down the site or be liable. This is not illegal, and it's not a DMCA claim. The ISP shut down Absolute Write anyway.
A week later, the ISP has not reinstated the site, and they are refusing to hand over Absolute Write's database so they can put the site back up somewhere else. Absolute Write has a legal fund (I just kicked in $100) to help them drag their foolish ISP into compliance, and to defend themselves against the predator who shut them down.
Update: The owner of the ISP says that he's in the middle of a longer dispute with Absolute Write about their bandwidth usage and other matters, and that terminating the site on the strength of the bogus excuse was just a "justification." (Thanks, PJ!)
