<br/><a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&vid=d0fa6983-84d4-4ab0-9bbd-933e400be67b&fg=sharenoembed" mce_href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&vid=d0fa6983-84d4-4ab0-9bbd-933e400be67b&fg=sharenoembed" target="_new"title="Season 4 - Episode 2 - Strange Allies">Video: Season 4 - Episode 2 - Strange Allies</a>

As written by Randy Deluxe regarding Blue Host's decision to drop the Frog Pants L.L.C. Network.

To: Matt Heaton, President and CEO of Bluehost

Mr. Heaton,

Today, your company dumped a good customer without warning or just cause.  Out of the blue today, you made the decision to unplug all of Scott Johnson begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting’s Frogpants network of podcasts, blogs and social media.  It is difficult to estimate how many potential customers you have given error to today, but in iTunes alone, you have refused service to possibly 100,000+ people.  Those people need to know who is suddenly preventing them from accessing what they’re looking for.

I’m sure I don’t have to tell you – since it’s your job to know such things – but you have just dumped:

• An entire network of podcasts and blogs, comprising a dozen very successful podcasters who have disparate audiences of thousands and in some cases tens of thousands of listeners.
• A massive web of highly effective social media mavens, most of whom have thousands of followers in Twitter.
• Media that has an unusually high international reach, with well above-average numbers of listeners outside of the United States.
• One of the top 100 podcasts in the world, according to listeners in iTunes, The Instance.

A cursory glance at your own Twitter feed makes it clear that you don’t understand or value the power and utility of social media.  Today’s bit of bad business by you was clearly the result of cold, hard calculation: you made an agreement with Scott Johnson begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting that appears to be less profitable than breaking the agreement.  So much for almost every claim on your website “guaranteeing” “unlimited” “reliable” hosting that is “better” and “professional”.  The statement on your site, “we specialize in customer service” can now be considered laughable.

Of course, everyone involved with the Frogpants network will be henceforth opposed to patronizing your apparently fly-by-night operation.  The Internet meme you might become aware of is this: Get out of the blue.

I encourage any and all customers of Bluehost.com to get out of the blue, before Bluehost.com suddenly leaves all of your content un-hosted.  Get out of the blue as soon as it is feasible for you to stop paying a company that cannot be trusted with your blogs, forums, videos, podcasts and pictures.  I am not suggesting that any customer stop payment if you owe Bluehost.com money.  Don’t be like them, and break an established agreement.  Just take the first, honest opportunity to get out of the blue and take your content to another host.

Mr. Heaton, I sincerely hope that this letter finds you well, and that you take the opportunity to comment below if you have anything to say here.  Internet 2.0 is not a bum’s rush. Rather, it is an open and ever-expanding platform upon which those who speak have every opportunity to guide discourse, and those who remain silent increase the value of nothing.

Those who attempt to do any silencing will find such an attempt to be utterly impotent.

Thank you.

Thanks to Hikikomori for finding this.

Now pwns

In a move design to strength Curse's foothold in the gaming news and game resources market Curse.com has acquired the popular gaming news site MMO Champion.  No news has yet been released about what Curse intends to integrate MMO Champion but initial reports state that Curse will be revamping the MMO Champion site.

You can read the press release about the sale at http://www.mmo-champion.com.