As you may have noticed, the jackals at SquawkBox are holding my comments system hostage until I send them some money. I have a free account, but they have decided that I use it too much (though they don't actually tell you how much is too much--they just flip a coin somewhere and pull the plug). Without notice, they simply say "We've decided that we want you to send us money now."

Here's the message you'll receive if you click on the comments box:

This commenting account (SBX-GWPXCDUDJ) has expired.

This means that the account owner has not renewed or upgraded their account. SquawkBox Basic/free accounts must be upgraded if they are heavily used over a prolonged period of time.

Here's the fun of it. How "heavily used?" They don't say! Over how "prolonged [a] period of time"? They don't tell you! Apparently they decide the way the Supreme Court does these days: if it feels heavy and seems prolonged to them, then that's that. I had a lot of activity for 48 hours this week. Evidently that is "prolonged."

Of course, it's free (initially) and it's theirs, so they can do whatever they want with it. Still, good faith would seem to call for at least some honesty and candor up front when bringing people into their system. They could do a six-month free trial, for instance, or set a limit on the number of comments allowable under the free system (and actually tell their customers what it is). But instead, they're more interested in sucking you in for a while and then slamming down the money hammer.

My comments will be down until I can get things straightened out. I apologize for the inconvenience, and I apologize in advance if any or all of your previous comments end up disappearing permanently. (Part of the beauty of pulling the plug in the middle of the night without notice is that the victim cannot back up his comments files. Just a coincidental benefit to them, I'm sure). If I do end up paying for a commenting system, it certainly won't be with SquawkBox. I would take my $22 (or whatever it is) and set it on fire in my front yard before I'd send it to those weasels now.

Tim Berglund, I'd look elsewhere right now if I were you, before they get you dependent on them and then pull their extortion racket.