'Tube geek' in trouble again

Geoff Marshall is in trouble with London Underground again - and this time Transport for London is going after his internet service provider.

After comments he posted on his blog about ongoing trouble with Transport for London he was contacted by someone at Clara.net - his ISP. We left messages with Clara.net but haven't heard back yet.

Marshall told The Register: "First of all I am not a tube geek or tube spotter - I do have a life, honestly."

He continued: "I'm very sad that my host won't defend me even slightly - they've just crumbled, so I'd like someone else to host the website."

Marshall, the world record holder for visiting every station on the London Underground network, got in trouble for hosting joke versions of the tube map and a version of its logo - the Tube roundel. Lawyers demanded the images were removed along with various links to other websites. But a post on his blog this morning obviously got the lawyers in a stew again.

Marshall said: "I've got better things to do than deal with this all the time - it's just a website you know. And I don't see how they can make me remove links to other sites - especially when their own sites include links to sites which also use the roundel."

Register readers were also unimpressed - one pointed out that many of the maps were not jokes but offered useful information like distances between stations and stations with toilets. Several readers reckon Geoff has legal protection because what he was doing was parody, and so protected by fair use.

Geoff's tube geek site is here. ®