The Telstra contractor who was sacked last month for rigging a poll on ZDNet Australia in Telstra's favour has spoken out on condition of anonymity, saying Telstra management found the situation "incredibly funny" but threatened legal action if he told his story.

"Telstra's response was to sack me. It was decided that that was 'the best thing for all concerned'. Though everyone who knew thought it was incredibly funny. Even Stuart [Gray, a Telstra PR executive] laughed about it," said the contractor.

Despite repeated denials that the contractor had been sacked as a result of the fiasco, Telstra spokesman Michael Herskope yesterday admitted that the contractor had been told to leave.

He denied anyone at the telco had found the issue funny or that they had attempted to gag the former contractor.

The jobless techie said he was not a customer of Telstra Big Pond Internet because "it's not the type of service [he'd] be willing to pay for".

ZDNet Australia has more details here.