Thursday
(0)In some cases, it is a heavy price.
The Swordsman, Iain Murray, one of the brightest stars in the blogging firmament, has just been summarily dismissed from his job:
"My employment was terminated this morning, with this blog stated as the reason.
It sounds like he has been treated very shabbily indeed. He has a wife and a small child so, if you can, please make your way over to his blog and leave something in the tip-jar. If you unable to do that, then at least let him know that you care.
David,
Thank you so much. This sort of thing tells me who my friends are, despite our occasional disagreements.
England shall be Free,
Iain
Posted by Iain Murray at January 16, 2003 07:01 AM
I am very sorry to hear this. Good luck Iain, England's Sword is one of the finest.
Who will they come for next, I wonder.
Posted by JohnJo at January 16, 2003 08:09 AM
Who indeed? If this can happen in the U.S., it can happen here, notwithstanding differences in employment law.
Increasingly, it seems that to blog with ease, you need to be self-employed. Also, I have taken the step of always blogging from home or at a private address like an internet cafe, since technically my firm could object to me writing on company time for something not connected to the job.
A shame, hope Iain gets sorted out. One of the really good guys.
Posted by Tom at January 16, 2003 10:57 AM
I've only just found the Swordsman, but I'm very sorry to hear that this sort of thing can happen.
I'm going to blog about it too, and hopefully send some others your way, Iain.
Posted by Camille at January 16, 2003 02:37 PM
It seems that blogs are becoming more and more of a thorn in the proverbial heel. I have also started to blog under a pseudonym and can no longer do so from work. And when I think of all those taking their fag breaks! (That is a cigarette break - for the benefit of the US audience)
Posted by Gabriel at January 17, 2003 12:17 AM
I sometimes wonder if this is why most of my customers are libertarian or just plain compleat Capitalists who wouldn't give a s*** what I talk about so long as I'm cheaper, better and faster...
My condolences.
Posted by Dale Amon at January 17, 2003 02:58 AM
Andrew and I are experienceing some rich heck at the hands of HM Immigration. See this post and comments for details.
Posted by Sasha at January 17, 2003 02:12 PM
A very interesting point - is Iain being punished for writing a diary on work time and facilities [however fatuous that idea is] - or is it a question of his identity?
Would he have been shown the door simply because his name is on the website expressing views his employer did not like, even if every letter and comma was written from home?
Shifting the idea back into an older technology for a moment, could Iain have been asked to leave his workplace because of a [non-libellous, perfectly legal] letter with his name on published in a newspaper?
Posted by Mark G at January 18, 2003 03:29 PM
