"Dear Forumites, The future of FootballNews is at a cross-roads and I seek your opinions on the following matter. I am currently considering the future of FootballNews due to action being taken by the Adelaide Advertiser. I am extremely frustrated and disappointed at the action being taken by the Adelaide Advertiser and, in particularly, its heavy handed approach to the matter. In the past I have kept quiet on these matters but it is with some frustration that I feel I should make you aware of what is happening behind the scenes and seek your opinions as to what I should do. The matter dates back to February 24 2010 when several forumites made some comments in relation to an Adelaide Advertiser journalist. The Adelaide Advertiser is of the view that the comments impute that the journalist is biased and disingenuous and therefore are defamatory. The Adelaide Advertiser is seeking recompense from FootballNews. Amongst their initial demands to avoid legal action on the matter was a demand for compensation of $40,000. This financial demand has subsequently been dropped. In my opinion the Adelaide Advertiser does not have a strong argument but I am not a lawyer and I wont go into the reasons here in this post. Regardless of the issue of the merit of their argument, I have attempted to discuss the matter with the Advertiser to come up with a pragmatic solution. FootballNews is not here to upset anyone and our preference is to keep everyone happy. Immediately on being made aware of the comments they were removed from the forum. We have also implemented a filter to prevent the journalists name being used in the forums and offered to filter out other Advertiser journalist names. I have also provided the Adelaide Advertiser with my personal phone numbers so they can contact me directly to enable an immediate and timely response. However this has not satisfied the Adelaide Advertiser. In essence the Adelaide Advertiser want FootballNews to review all comments made by forumites before they are put up in the forums. This is the system that is used by their Adelaide Now website and they appear to want FootballNews to implement a similar system. Unfortunately FootballNews does not have the resources to implement such a system. FootballNews has no revenue. It is a not-for-profit service provided for the benefit of the local football community. We cannot implement such a system so the only option available FootballNews to satisfy the Adelaide Advertiser is to close down the site. Another demand of the Advertiser is for FootballNews to publish an apology to the journalist and the Adelaide Advertiser itself. I find this to be difficult as FootballNews is being asked to apologise for comments that it did not actually make and this does not sit well with my moral principles. It is akin to being asked to plead guilty for a crime that you have not committed - in order to avoid going to jail for a crime you have not committed. All the communications with the Adelaide Advertiser are via their lawyer and every letter is demanding and heavy handed. They target both FootballNews and me personally. To be quite frank, I am fed up with the legal threats being made by the Adelaide Advertiser. I am a busy person, I run several businesses, I have a family and I am time poor. I run FootballNews because I have a love for the sport. I have incurred significant expenses in developing and running FootballNews and have never ever complained and never will. But the action being taken by the Adelaide Advertiser is just pushing me beyond my limits. My inclination is to shut down FootballNews. Before you start jumping at shadows, this has nothing to do with Val Migliaccio who is a good bloke. Also please dont write anything defamatory in your responses. What I am seeking is your opinions. Do you have any alternative suggestions to appease the Adelaide Advertiser? What should I do? Maybe I should not be writing this post but I am tired, I am grumpy, I dont enjoy being bullied and I have had enough."