Goldman Sachs seeks to silence critical Fla. blogger

Mike Morgan, a registered investment advisor in Florida's Jensen Beach community, is angry over the role the investment bank Goldman Sachs and its executives played in the current global economic crisis while collecting more than $12 billion in bailout money from U.S. taxpayers. As an outlet for his ire, Morgan launched a website last month titled "Info, Comments, Opinions and Facts About Goldman Sachs."

Its Internet address? Goldmansachs666.com -- a joke pointing not only to the reputed Number of the Beast but also the number some economists fear the Standard & Poor's 500 could fall to under current market circumstances.

Not surprisingly, Goldman Sachs wasn't pleased by the website. In fact, it's so unhappy that its law firm has issued Morgan a cease-and-desist letter charging him with violating the bank's intellectual property rights.

Morgan told the U.K. paper The Daily Telegraph that he intends to fight the company. He said he has followed all the legal requirements, including placing a note prominently at the top of the site stating clearly that it is not affiliated with the bank. And it's not like Morgan hasn't faced the wrath of big companies upset over his writings before, the paper points out:

... Mr Morgan explained how he went through a similar battle with US homebuilder Lennar a few years ago after he set up a website to collect information on what he alleged was shoddy workmanship in its homes. The pair eventually settled out of court.

"Since I went through this with Lennar, I've had advice from some of the best intellectual property lawyers, and I know exactly what I can and can't do. We're not going to back down from this," he promises.

In the meantime, Morgan is looking for volunteers to help keep the site up and running. For more information, see his post titled "About this Site and Please Volunteer" here. He says he hopes to collect enough dirt on the company to eventually write a book titled "How Goldman Sachs Destroyed the World."