Last week on the Evil Avatar web site, the latest in scathing editorials about ION Storm - called "Flamethrower" - was posted, rallying against ION Storm's CEO Todd Porter.

　　It wasn't all talk, however, as about half of the editorial consisted of e-mails from former (and perhaps current) ION Storm employees. With the exception of one posting, contributors provided their own horror stories of life at the Dallas company along with the attitude, trials, and tribulations of Todd Porter.

　　Flamethrower's theme was simple and focused as stated at the beginning of the original text posted: "Todd Porter is all that is wrong at ION Storm." Entries from supposed ex-employees, while sounding a little surreal, were thorough enough to sound authentic as they detailed the inner workings of ION Storm and its recent exodus of departures. Could the entries be telling the truth behind the woes at ION? Was this why the site was pulled? We were wondering the same thing.

　　A partial rebuttal came on Thursday, January 7, when web site provider Medianet - on advice from its legal consul - took the site down. According to Flamethrower, Porter himself had his lawyer contact Medianet to have the site pulled from public view.

　　On Sunday, the site was back in business, as was Flamethrower, with an even nastier message, though the prime material of the Porter "expose" has become a nonfunctioning link.

　　Pundits will quickly conclude that this is a free-speech issue - just where does free speech on the Net end and the individual rights and reputation of a person begin? It can be concluded that Porter's retaliation through the legal system could have a very chilling effect on homespun gaming news sites. Calls to ION Storm for comment regarding the situation went unanswered by press time.

　　Stay tuned to GameSpot News for more on this story, as we feel that this issue may be far from over.