Well Paramount has struck a blow against Internet writers everywhere by having the IESB site shut down over Iron Man spy photos that they were carrying on their site.

The whole story isn't known, so I'm not sure if Paramount have a legal injunction against the hosting company of IESB to shut them down or not, but it seems to be the usual case of a large company using their legal might and large bank balance to force a hosting company to shut down one of their customer's sites.

Legally IESB seem to be in the right, they posted images passed on from other people which apparently held no copyright. If the photographs are taken in a public place without the photographer breaking any laws to obtain them, then is it illegal for them to post them on the Internet?

After all that's what Paramount will do when it suits them and they want to get free advertising. They're happy to send out information to the Internet sites and use us for free, but when something happens that they don't like they use their might to have it shut down.

What gets me more about this story from Obsessed with Film is that the hosting company would appear to have buckled - well I don't see IESB taking down their own site - and have bowed before the name of a large company without even questioning the legality, or suggesting to the owners of the site that they remove the offending material.

Here's the biggest problem these days, communication on a civil and human level. I'm sure this could all have been worked out quite easily with a simple discussion. No heavy handed tactics. Instead they're directly harming the exposure and earnings of IESB.

I wonder if Paramount will now face a backlash and see such sites boycott Iron Man? It'll also be interesting to know how much the hosting company folded in this and if Paramount tried to discuss this or just went to have the entire site removed from the Internet.

Update:
The guys are back, well done! Show them some love and head over there to help them recover from their downtime.

Paramount, I have to ask what the hell you are thinking. However I've had my eyes opened to just how bullying, arrogant and uncaring large corporations can be.