OMI Going? This Is SO Not A Good Prize!

2067.Lynn Siprelle is retiring a public service:

I lost a friend today over this site--a good friend, one of my best friends. Losing friends was always a risk of doing this site, and in a way I'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner. I don't think I can get this friend back; I've been told not to respond to the email, though I'm going to try anyway.

I've never liked running uncivil websites, ever. In fact, I've never run one, other than OMI. I've never had a website quite like it. The problem with OMI has always been that the more I censored, the more open to lawsuits I was. And I have no legal defense team, no corporate owner with big pockets to rescue me. There's only me. I know this is a concept that's really weird-sounding to some of you, but I'm telling you, that's the way the legal precedents stand now.

Moving to accounts-only posting has helped a great deal with the nasty drive-by posting. But I can't do this any more. A broken heart can do what a purple-faced news director or corporate lawyer cannot.

So I have to stop doing this. End of day tomorrow (when the current ads expire) I'm taking the site offline. I would like very much for someone to take over OMI. I think it's important that a site like this continue, but I don't have it in me any more.

We're just about to lose a very valuable resource to you, me and everyone. Is there anywhere else you can find such information?

Well, nowhere.

This sucks.

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