Sam Sethi Controversy 2007 edition: Blognation

It must be a rule or something. If it’s time for Le Web 3, it’s time for a Sam Sethi controversy. This time last year, he was the apparent victim, crashing out of a working relationship with Mike Arrington and Techcrunch. This year, one of his bloggers on Blognation has very publicly departed with a long open letter, still visible on the site, and reproduced on Techcrunch.

Allegedly, Sam has not only not been paying his bloggers, but he lacks the funding he claimed he had. I haven’t found a direct response from Sam, but will link to any that emerge, and he has offered The Guardian‘s Jemima Kiss his side of the story over Twitter.

It will be interesting to watch this develop over the next few hours, and it’ll give us something to talk about in Paris…

Update: The departing blogger, Oliver Starr, has the letter up on his own blog.

Update 2: Sam has left a comment on the Techcrunch post.

Update 3: Nicole Simon posts about the situation, telling a similar, but more measured, tale to Oliver’s.

Update 4: Debi Jones posts a lyrical account of her Blognation experiences. The anti-Sam posts are mounting up.

Update 5: Tris Hussey, a Blognation Canada editor, is saying “no comment” – apart from the fact that he is “excited and supports blognation”.