Lily Allen drops blog as piracy abuse gets nasty

The singer Lily Allen has dropped the blog she launched earlier this week in support of a crackdown on illegal file-sharing. Faced with criticism all round, including accusations of siding with big business against music fans, she has bowed out of the very public piracy debate saying the "abuse was getting too much".

In a statement, she also appeared to suggest that she might be giving up her music career all together. "Just so you know, I have not renegotiated my record contract and have no plans to make another record," she wrote. "The days of me making money from recording music has [sic] been and gone as far as I'm concerned."

But no one really believes that the 24-year-old whose hits Smile and Not Fair have helped make her one of the most recognisable faces in pop, would bow out completely.

Allen got on the wrong side of fans and critics because she came out in support of what other musicians believe is a far too heavy-handed approach to illegal file-sharing proposed by the Government. It would involve the suspension of the internet accounts of serial file-sharers.

A lobby group calling itself the Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) - which includes rock royalty from bands like Radiohead, Blur and Pink Floyd - declared itself utterly opposed.

Writing on The First Post, music critic Johnny Dee said Allen's views exposed her as "a pampered lovey in chav's clothing". Bemoaning the lack of rebelliousness in today's pop stars, he wrote: "It is just a shame that the one issue that does ignite people like Lily Allen is the one that concerns their own personal fortune - and, in this case, one in which she has taken the side of the establishment."

Allen was also in trouble with the technology site Techdirt, which accused her of lifting parts of one of its articles without a credit. She apologised, saying she had never intended to try to pass off their words as hers.

But Techdirt had another charge - hypocrisy. They claimed Allen had once illegally distributed mix-tapes of other people's music for free. "I made those mix-tapes five years ago," she responded, adding: "I didn't have a knowledge of the workings of the music industry back then."

Fed up with the saga, Allen is now suggesting that she regards herself as an actress rather than a pop star. She will make her West End debut next year in the lead role of Neil LaBute's play Reasons To Be Pretty. ·