The Wardman Wire

I’m delighted to announce two new Internet Awards for services beyond the call of duty in the area of suppression of Free Expression on the Internet in the UK.

The inaugural Bear-Faced Usmanov for internet bullying is awarded to Joseph Chikelue Obi, while the first Double Headed Schilling for being a soft-touch goes to Netcetera - The Occasional Internet Host.

The Bear-Faced Usmanov is for extreme efforts in closing down websites which are criticising you by threat without evidence.

Meanwhile The Double Headed Schilling is awarded to webhosts who roll over before such threats.

The first awards are in connection with the case of Joseph Chikelue Obi and the Quackometer, with internet hosting (sometimes) company Netcetera.

The whole thing was documented by the Register, from where the text extracts below are quoted.

Quack! Quack! Quackety-Quack!

The Citation for Joseph Chikelue Obi

“A discredited doctor has forced an ISP to silence a website that aimed to debunk claims made by his “Royal College of Alternative Medicine” (RCAM).

The website, Quackometer, run by Oxfordshire IT worker Andy Lewis, was shuttered by ISP Netcetera on Monday following threats to sue for defamation from Joseph Chikelue Obi.

Lewis recently targeted self-proclaimed professor, “Eminent Black British Human Rights Crusader” and “Undisputed Doyen of Medical Politics”, Joseph Chikelue Obi. Quackometer featured a series of articles lampooning claims made by RCAM in its blog section.

Obi describes himself as the provost of RCAM, a Dublin-based “empowerment body for advanced wellness consultants”.

We have only been able to verify that RCAM has one member, Joseph Chikelue Obi, despite a list of ten Principal Officers on its website. It offers online courses and accreditations in “alternative medicine”, including a programme in “cancer survival strategies”. Its page on “nutritional immunomodulation” claims to be able to improve fatigue, skin problems, sexual fitness, psychological issues and cardiovascular disorders.

Most disturbingly, RCAM boasts “improvement in the quality of life of cancer sufferers and HIV/AIDS hosts” through “tirelessly deciphering the intricate molecular mechanisms by which both anti-oxidant and pro-oxidant nutrients consistently modulate the structure and functioning of important cells involved in human defense”.

The criticisms of Obi and RCAM made by Andy Lewis on Quackometer have been reproduced by bloggers worldwide.

As a result, Netcetera received demands from Obi’s legal representative “Tanja Suessenbach” late in January this year. Her letter threatened:

In case the defamation continues beyond 12 noon on Monday the 21st of January 2008, we are instructed to hold you fully liable to the tune of £1 Million (One Million Pounds) per day, together with additional punitive damages relating to the many months during which the defamatory material had and has been globally accessible via your server.

Cluck-Cluck-Cluckety-Cluck!

The Citation for Netcetera - The Occasional Internet Host

The iSP that rolled over for (deep breath) Provost Professor Joseph Chikelue Obi FRCAM (Dublin) FRIPH(UK) FACAM(USA) MICR(UK), Emeritus RCAM Chair. (I do so love the “Fake ‘em (USA)” moniker.)

“The Isle of Man-based ISP first removed individual pages from Quackometer, then informed Lewis it would bring the whole site down, citing its Acceptable Use Policy. The policy, typical of web hosts, states: “Netcetera reserves the right to suspend or cancel a customer’s access to any or all services provided by Netcetera, where Netcetera decides that the account has been inappropriately used. Netcetera reserves the right to refuse service and/or access to its servers to anyone.”

A spokeswoman for the firm refused to comment on the incident. In an email, Netcetera told Lewis: “We do not wish to be in a position where we could be taken to court, and incur the loss of time and expense that would involve.”

Wrapping-Up

If you care about your website not being pulled when a highly questionable person waves a cotton-bud threateningly in the direction of your host, you now know where not to put your website.

Tags: quackometer, netcetera, Royal College of Alternative Medicine, joseph chikelue obi, free expression, free speech[tags]quackometer, netcetera, Royal College of Alternative Medicine, joseph chikelue obi, free expression, free speech[/tags]