Defend BackingBlair.co.uk

Backing Blair admits lying so protest cancelled

2005-03-07T11:37:00.000Z

With a heavy heart, I have to share with you an e-mail from Clive Summerfield, who is one of the Backing Blair webmasters. It makes it clear Backing Blair lied and I have no choice but to pull out of the Fasthosts protest and offer Fasthosts a full apology.

I now understand why the Backing Blair took this position on the Denial of Service attack:

"Please do not upset the web host who conspired with our enemies to bring down our website"

Anybody else would have sacked such a host. However, the web host was innocent.

This comes after Tim Ireland refused to publish, or to allow me to publish, the e-mail in which Fasthosts report a complaint. Read here how he led me to believe I could have the e-mail for £500. I agreed because such an e-mail would prove the Labour Party was censoring the internet through intimidation. Such a story would be dynamite, but I no longer believe such an e-mail exists. Tim Ireland lied and has brought shame, not just on himself, but on all Conservative Party supporters.

The Backing Blair team have proved themselves to be no more trustworthy than Tony Blair. They believe that a much needed Conservative victory at the next election can only be achieved by lying to voters. I can no longer be part of that.

Clive Summerfield e-mail:

Admits that Backing Blair did not have unlimited bandwidth as claimed here: "our service is supposed to include unlimited bandwidth".
Admits that Backing Blair used excessive bandwidth
Asks me not to upset the web host Backing Blair claimed conspired with its enemies.

The e-mail:

FastHosts do indeed make no bandwidth restrictions, but there is a clause in their Ts and Cs for excessive use, and 250,000 hits on a 728Kb file in 2 weeks is a hell of a lot of bandwidth. Furthermore, as I pointed out at BackingBlair, the mention of copyright violation doesn't make reference to a specific complaint, so could well be just someone being overzealous in their abuse department rather than anything malicious. This could be supported by the fact that any reference to copyright was subsequently dropped.

The interesting thing was the timing, in that the flash file had been up on the server for 2 weeks, yet the site didn't get dropped until 4 days after BB went live. But sometimes a coincidence is just that. Now we're pretty happy with the way things are running at the moment, and I personally think your campaign - while well intentioned - may actually result in more aggravation for Backing Blair. If Fasthosts decide that it's going to cause them problems of this nature then they may well asked for the whole site to be moved. Were it to happen again, then I'd more more inclined to action, but not for a single incident which may well prove to be a one-off.

So could I please ask that you direct your support and energies into the Backing Blair campaign rather than at the hosting provider who, at the end of the day, may be guilty of nothing more than a lack of responsiveness.
Kind regards
Clive clives@batchtarget.com

Defend Backing Blair to publish Fasthosts' e-mail

2005-02-24T11:48:00.000Z

Defend Backing Blair has offered £500 to the Backing Blair campaign for the e-mail in which Fasthosts explain that the Backing Blair website was taken off line following a complaint. This will enable the Backing Blair battle bus to take to the streets of London and Gloucester. This e-mail will be published here. Why is is so important? It dismisses Fasthosts allegation that Backing Blair lied and proves that Blair's cronies are censoring the web through intimidation.

Tim Ireland of Bloggerheads, which is co-sponsoring the Backing Blair campaign, has agreed in principle to release the e-mail. But we need an escrow to facilitate the process which will be as follows:

Tim will forward the e-mail to the escrow who will confirm that Fasthosts clearly cite a third party complaint as the cause of the Denial of Service attack
I will pay £500 to the escrow
The escrow will forward the e-mail to me and the £500 to Backing Blair

I am currently waiting for Tim to nominate an escrow. I reserve the right to reject his nomination (in which case he will nominate another), but I am confident he will find a trusted third party to facilitate the transaction. If you would like to offer your services e-mail Tim Ireland: manic[AT]bloggerheads[DOT]com.

Language Timothy!

2005-02-23T12:10:00.000Z

I have had to disable comments for a short time due to the foul language contained in comments from Tim Ireland, who takes the username "Backing Blair". Below is an interesting exchange from the official Backing Blair site (he is less constrained here). I am offering to buy the all important e-mail that proves Backing Blair was telling the truth about the Denial of Service attack for £500. This offer is genuine.

UPDATE 12.50pm: Tim's 17 hours on here and counting!

Jim Doyle said...
Do you think the truck will be ready for the Fasthosts protest?
11:42 AM
Backing Blair said...
'Jim Doyle'... you continue to claim that you're acting on our behalf, when you are not. You also claim to support Backing Blair, when what you are doing is clearly malicious (and, in your mind, clever).You stalk other sites that link to us via Technorati and make cut-n-paste comments on those sites or ping for trackback (again and again and again if these trackbacks are deleted) when you don't even display Trackback yourself.You have also been harrassing our ISP regularly by email.You are desperate fraud out to cause trouble and everyone knows it.But I'll tell you what... if you *still* claim to support the campaign, we *may* be inclined to take you more seriously should you match or better the highest donation to date. Which is £500.(waits)
11:51 AM
Jim Doyle said...
I will buy the correspondence from Fasthosts that explains the site was pulled because somebody complained for that amount.I will then disseminate that widely as it will prove that New Labour is censoring the web by intimidation as you originally told the world.
11:57 AM
Backing Blair said...
No. Donate or get lost. Twunt.
11:59 AM
Jim Doyle said...
Why are you protecting Fasthosts and New Labour?
12:01 PM
Jim Doyle said...
My offer to buy the e-mail (or whatever) is genuine. I don't belive you lied and will clear your name.
12:03 PM
Backing Blair said...
Why are you pretending to support our camapign and what is your real name?Donate or get lost. Twunt.

*UPDATE:
See how obsessed Tim has become with me! 17 hours on this site and still counting! Why not sell me the e-mail?

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Fasthosts Protest. Now we're trucking!

2005-02-23T10:35:00.000Z

This photo is a mock up, but we are not that far from making it real.

This is what the Backing Blair battle bus will look like and with a bit of luck it will be driving around Gloucester on 7 March 2005.

We can take it in turns to have a go on the PA using Fasthosts' reception as our base. Over the course of the day we will be able to offer a great many reasons not to vote Blair.

We can also pump the London Underground song into the streets. I know the tube does not go to Gloucester, but the anti-Union message will go down just as well. It never hurts to remind people that the unions are the power behind Blair.

Fasthosts: "Backing Blair lied"

2005-02-21T14:22:00.000Z

According to the Register, Fasthosts has accused Backing Blair of lying, "with Fasthosts assuring us that there was no complaint by anyone". Yet Backing Blair makes it clear over here that somebody complained about their website, that that complaint led to their website being pulled and that that somebody was close to New Labour.

I've already said that Backing Blair would not lie! Lying is what Tony Blair does, Backing Blair is committed to openness and honesty.

All that is required is for Backing Blair to publish the e-mail from Fasthosts that says somebody complained and New Labour is banged to rights! So come on Tim Bloggerheads! Publish that e-mail!

Backing Blair: not just Iraq, fighting Unions too

2005-02-21T11:21:00.000Z

Fasthosts may have removed the version of the London Underground song with Backing Blair graphics, but I've found that it can still be downloaded from here as an MP3. When you listen you'll soon realise why it provoked the original Denial of Service Attack on Backing Blair.

It is crucial because it widens the anti-Labour campaign beyond Iraq (which will always be Blair's main weakness) and exposes a traditional and unavoidable weakness of the Labour Party. That weakness is closeness to the Trade Unions that fund it. The lyrics which you can read here, say it all really:

Tubes on strike
Greedy bastards want extra pay
For sitting on their arse all day
Even though they earn 30k
They’re all lazy fucking useless cunts
They’re all greedy cunts; I want to shoot them all with a rifle

Genius!

Not only does New Labour fail to stand up to greedy Unions it plans to increase the minimum wage, regardless of its impact on our country's competitiveness.

Backing Blair lied? I don't think so

2005-02-19T10:17:00.000Z

I've received a number of e-mails suggesting that Fasthosts did not receive a complaint from the Labour Party or from anybody else. These people seem to suggest that Fasthosts took the decision to take the Backing Blair site down alone. They say Backing Blair was using excessive bandwidth. However, Backing Blair has dismissed this story already. They say, "it flies in the face of reason when you consider that our service is supposed to include unlimited bandwidth". Read the whole thing.

If it's true that Fasthosts did not receive a complaint, then it must also be true that Backing Blair lied. I simply don't believe that they would jeopardise their own campaign by faking a Denial of Service attack on their own site. That allegation is simply ludicrous.

(However, in the unlikely event that Backing Blair lied, this site will offer a full apology to Fasthosts.)

Backing Blair Vs Fasthosts

2005-02-18T08:15:00.000Z

Today's Independent carries a headline talking of "harassment, intimidation and secrecy", things that could equally be applied to the events surrounding Backing Blair's fight with New Labour and the web company Fasthosts.

The fact remains that last weekend, Backing Blair suffered a Denial of Service attack and has evidence that the attack came from Labour Party HQ. (They explain it all here). In short the Labour Party is acting to censor the web in the run up to the election!

Many people reading this will be bloggers and website owners themselves. Now if your host pulled your website, you'd want to know why and if they said it was because someone had complained you'd want to know who that someone was and what their beef was. Fasthosts hold the answers to those questions.

As a self-employed man, I've had problems with late payers in the past. I'm talking months overdue. I find one simple thing that works better than 100 letters or threats of court action. I set a day aside and sit in the company reception, telling anyone who passes through why I'm there. I always have a cheque by lunchtime. Now that's what I'm going to do for Backing Blair (on my own if I have to) on Monday 7 March. When I leave Fasthosts, Backing Blair will have a name and the details of the complaint made against them. Everyone's welcome to join me!

This sensational story could be as important to this election campaign as the Swift Boat Veteran story was in the US elections and we all know how wonderfully effective that was.

Backing Blair hit by Denial of Service attack

2005-02-17T09:28:00.000Z

Don't be deceived. Backing Blair is using comedy and satire to reveal the true nature of the Blair government and mobilise a popular campaign to defeat New Labour at the next election. But Labour doesn't like that and the website has already suffered a Denial of Service attack that brought it down for 18 hours.

This cannot be right. But you can do something to stop them doing it again.

The Facts:

Fasthosts agreed to host Backing Blair and offered the campaign unlimited bandwidth
Somebody (Backing Blair believes that somebody to be based at Labour Party HQ and has traced IP addresses to there, so they are watching) complained about the website and Fasthosts took it down
Fasthosts has failed to reveal the identity of the complainant
Fasthosts is still refusing to host the "London Underground Song", which New Labour hates

What we want:

Fasthosts must restore Backing Blair's unlimited bandwidth agreement (as previously agreed)
Fasthosts must include the "London Underground Song" in this
Fasthosts must name the complainant and publish the details of their complaint so that Backing Blair can respond in full

Action:

E-mail enquiries@fasthosts.co.uk and demand they restore Backing Blair's unlimited bandwidth and name the complainant
If you know anybody who uses Fasthosts, let us know and we'll pressure their customers to change providers

PROTEST: Monday 7 March

If Fasthosts refuse to name the complainant or to restore Backing Blair's original unlimited bandwidth agreement, then we intend to mount a peaceful drop-in protest at their Gloucester offices on Monday 7 March from 10am until we get what we want.

Meet outside Gloucester Cathedral at 9.45am to arrive at Fasthosts' offices for 10am. Bring food and (non-alcoholic) drink and we will camp out in their reception until they provide us with a copy of the complaint against Backing Blair and agree to restore the unlimited bandwidth agreement and the "London Underground Song". Don't worry if you can't make it 9.45, you can drop in anytime during the day.

It will be really good fun!

To find Fasthosts simply visit their homepage and follow the contact us link at the bottom of the page.

Maps and directions are here.

These links not working? They will be fixed soon, in the meantime let Muitimap guide you. The address is: Fasthosts Internet Ltd., Discovery House, 154 Southgate Street, Gloucester GL1 2EX

Problems or questions? E-mail me: jimdoyle69@btinternet.com