ATOS Healthcare is the organisation employed by the UK Government to massively reduce the country's welfare benefit bill and has faced constant opposition since it began its work last year.

Numerous examples of the deaths of benefit claimants in close proximity to the feared Work Capacity Assessment administered by doctors and nurses employed by ATOS have been cited all over the web; along with many claims of serious ill and disabled people having their benefit payments wrongly and unfairly withdraw.

Examples of web-based coverage of the events (all used WITHOUT the authors' permission or knowledge).

Atos Origin vs the internet

Poverty pimps and well known corporate slime Atos Origin have taken their harassment of disabled people one step further by using flaky legal threats to censor and close down websites which have been critical of them...

From Jonny Void's The Void -  http://johnnyvoid.wordpress.com/2011/08/22/atos-origin-vs-the-internet-stop-atos-censorsing-the-web/


ATOS Healthcare - Scum of the Earth

The shocking tactics used by ATOS Healthcare to silence their sick and disabled critics are rapidly coming to light all over teh Intawebs...

More worryingly, ATOS's Chief Solicitor James Loughrey is also with the aid of media monitoring agency LBi, targeting internet fora and discussion boards where the sick and disabled meet online for mutual support - including the notoriously moderate and respectable CarerWatch...

From Socrates' New Republic -  http://the-newrepublic.blogspot.com/2011/08/atos-healthcare-scum-of-earth.html


Atos moves to shut down criticism

Lots of people have explained why they are unhappy with Atos in blogs, on social networks, and in support forums.

It seems that Atos don’t like this. They have started issuing legal threats, and they have succeeded in shutting down some of their opposition.

From Latent Existence's Tentacles of Doom.  http://www.latentexistence.me.uk/atos-moves-to-shut-down-criticism/


With a precedent set that the route to go down was not threatening individuals but website hosting companies who were not going to risk the financial cost of a major legal battle with a company who’s wealth can be counted in the billions

The latest round of Atossers corporate bullying in an attempt to silence their critics arose this week when Atos yet again issued legal threats against the hosting company of 2 online forums, DWPExamination and Carer Watch

From Black Triangle Campaign. Atos, The Oppressors of Free Speech


CarerWatches response to ATOS's threat of legal action:


CareWatch's Francis published their response to ATOS on their website this morning:

“CarerWatch is an internet forum for sick and disabled people and their unpaid family carers. This is a private forum and only members are allowed to make/read posts.

We understand from the organisation that hosts our forum that they received a letter from your solicitors threatening to sue us for libel. The provider immediately closed our site down.


This video was made as a tribute and thank you to the authors of
the ATOS Register of Shame website - closed by the thug Loughrey

We have many members who are very fragile and the sudden disappearance of a support group has caused a lot of distress and fear. Some are ringing us in tears. We cannot get in contact with all of them though as we have lost their contact details through the closure.

All this distress could have been avoided if you had had the courtesy to contact us first and tell us what had been posted on our site that you considered libellous. Obviously if any post was possibly libellous we would have removed it and all this distress could have been avoided.


People... and websites...

We imagine this distress is unintended and hope you will work with us in looking at the problem and finding a solution.

Please note that this letter, and any reply received from yourselves, will be posted on our website. It is the only means left to us to reach some members and keep them updated.

It is vital we have our forum up and running again to reach those that are isolated.

On behalf of CarerWatch members”  http://carerwatch.wordpress.com/2011/08/21/carerwatch-discussion-forum-taken-down/

Two interesting tweets, the first from Rosemary the owner of the CarerWatch blog

“On behalf of CW can I thank every1 for their support, here,DMs and via email. Off to hospital most of today so will be later b4 updating u x”

 http://twitter.com/#!/CarerWatch/status/105559035587211264

And the second a potentially explosive and very serious allegation posited by the award-winning disabled journalist and writer, Socrates from The New Republic, to LBi, the digital media agency monitoring the internet for ATOS Healthcare:

“@LBiLondon Hi ya!It's OK! I have the answer! Next Q! Did any of you pretend/purport to be disabled to gain access to private internet fora!?”

 http://twitter.com/#!/TheNewRepublic/status/105676775249551360

----------------- ENDS ----------------

[1] James Terence John Loughrey
Atos Origin It Services Uk Limited
4 Triton Square
London
NW1 3HG
England


Phone : +44 (0) 20 7830 4210
Fax : +44 (0) 20 7830 4206