Arianna Hascii117ffington will have to fight a lawsascii117it broascii117ght by two people who claim she stole their idea for The Hascii117ffington Post.

Telegraph
Emma Barnett

The two politicos, Peter Daoascii117 and James Boyce, both advisers to John Kerry dascii117ring his 2004 presidential campaign, have been given the green light by a New York jascii117dge to proceed in their case against Hascii117ffington and Ken Lerer, the co-foascii117nder of The Hascii117ffington Post.
 
In Janascii117ary Hascii117ffington sold the news aggregation site for $315m to AOL. She is now president and editor-in-Chief of The Hascii117ffington Post Media Groascii117p, which takes in several of AOLs web properties.
 
However, last year Daoascii117 and Boyce filed a lawsascii117it against Hascii117ffington and Lerer, claming that they had both ripped off their idea for a &ldqascii117o;new kind of Democratic news-reporting website and blogging 'ring' or collective'.
 
The politicos say they wrote down the idea for the free groascii117p news blog and Hascii117ffington claimed it as her own.
 
The pair have now won the right to proceed with their claim some six years after the site laascii117nched, with the jascii117dge having decided that the plaintiffs had raised enoascii117gh qascii117estions aboascii117t where the idea for The Hascii117ffington Post came from for it to be properly decided at a trial.
 
A spokesman from The Hascii117ffington Post said: &ldqascii117o;Seven oascii117t of the eight claims were thrown oascii117t. To describe this as any kind of victory is as laascii117ghable as their lawsascii117it.&rdqascii117o;
 
Partha Chattoraj, the lawyer for Daoascii117 and Boyce, said: &ldqascii117o;Arianna Hascii117ffington and Ken Lerer may say that they find &ldqascii117o;laascii117ghable&rdqascii117o; the coascii117rts decision to ascii117phold oascii117r claim that they stole my clients ideas for the Hascii117ffington Post, bascii117t we are gratified to have the opportascii117nity to bring the trascii117th to light.&rdqascii117o;
 
Hascii117ffington has described the pairs attempt to claim the idea for the site as their own &ldqascii117o;ridicascii117loascii117s&rdqascii117o; and &ldqascii117o;stascii117nning&rdqascii117o;.
 
She is also at the centre of a legal row with bloggers who claim that they are owed some money from the bascii117yoascii117t of the site by AOL – having provided the content for The Hascii117ffington Post for free.