Boulder, Colo. - Automattic, the distributor of the open-source WordPress blogging platform, has acquired blog commenting platform Intense Debate for an undisclosed sum, according to a blog post on IntenseDebate.com.

Los Angeles - Notorious Sweden-based file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay has launched an uncensored blogging service, after one of the service's founders saw a friend's blog removed from Wordpress for linking to copyrighted material, TorrentFreak reports. The Baywords service uses Wordpress as its blogging engine. "Many blogs are being shut down for uncomfortable thoughts and ideas," reads a note on Baywords.com. "We will not do that. Our goal is to protect freedom of speech and your thoughts. As long as you don't break any Swedish laws in your blog, we will defend it."

New York - Automattic, the developer of the WordPress blog publishing software, has raised $29.5 million in new financing from Polaris Venture Partners, True Ventures, Radar Partners and The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), The Times reported.