The Register®

Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/07/19/william_shatner_google_plus/

Captain Kirk's Google+ account gets zapped

Phasers fortunately set only to stun

By Dan Goodin

Posted in Media, 19th July 2011 05:00 GMT

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William Shatner's Google+ account was suspended on Monday and later restored for reasons Google won't divulge.

“My Google+ account was flagged for violating standards,” the actor who played Captain James T. Kirk on Star Trek wrote [1] to his almost 647,000 Twitter followers. “Saying hello to everyone apparently is against the rules. Maybe I should say goodbye?”

Several hours later he took to his restored Google+ account [2] to say he was back.

“I am back plusers,” he said. "I still do not know what happened but I will refrain from saying hello again for a while just in case. My best, Bill.”

Google representatives declined to say what prompted the temporary suspension. Google+ rules require users to use their real names when registering. Many are speculating an overzealous Google admin doubted the user was the real star of the 1960s sci-fi hit television series and nuked the account.

Google CEO Larry Page said last week [3] that Google+ has acquired more than 10 million users since making its debut three weeks ago. Those users are sharing more than 1 billion “items” each day, he said.

Shatner's brief suspension came the same day that Google permanently nuked the Google+ account claiming to belong to the Anonymous hacker collective. ®