don't think it can't happen here
Mediaah! was an India based blog dedicated to casting a critical eye toward their mainstream media outlets (MSM). Unfortunately, when you look into the abyss the abyss also looks into you, and the abysmal Indian MSM didn't like what it saw.
One of India's largest media conglomerates, The Times of India, sicked their legal team on Mediaah!'s owner, Pradyumnan Maheshwari, demanding he delete 19 postings they considered "defamatory." Instead he has decided to close the blog.
"I would urge you to appreciate my predicament," Mr. Maheshwari writes. "As a solo performer, I don't have the time, energies and monies to fight a biggie. If I would delete the posts and continue, the guys could still pick on everything I write, and slap a hundred notices on me."
"(T)he conglomerate in question has deep pockets and has enough resources to have us run around in circles. We have a strong case, but it doesn't help fighting them."
Lest you think this could only happen in the third world or some dictatorship, consider that the tactic of a big fish unjustly suing a little fish because they believe the size of their legal war chest will force the little fish to concede is hardly a foreign tactic. Then consider how much anti-blog noise the American MSM has been making lately.
It looks as if war has been declared. I'm just not sure who fired the first shot. Is it foolish of the "blogsphere" to take pride in martyring people such as Dan Rather and not expect to take a few serious hits back?
One of bloggerdom's martyrs just may be Mediaah!, who went from "The Media's Media. No-holds-barred news and commentary on the Indian media" to "Brutally Unbiased. Independent. Now Muted."