The Huffington Post, also known as HoffPost and, simply, HuffPo, announced today that it is shutting down its contributor network, effective immediately. The contributor network was essentially HuffPost’s blogging arm, allowing anyone holding a Huffington Post contributor account to write an article and post it to HuffPo.

Rumors are flying about AOL being put up for sale, with some people wondering whether AOL is to close. While an AOL shutdown seems unlikely in the near term, it does seem to be the case that AOL is going to go up on the block. According to industry sources, AOL has been meeting with both legal and investment types about selling themselves off to the highest bidder.

The Huffington Post (which variously also goes by HuffPost, Huff Post, HuffPo, or Huff Po), is being sued in a class action law suit by its own bloggers. The lawsuit, which names Ariana Huffington and Kenneth Lerer, the two co-founders of the Huffington Post, as defendants, alleges deceptive business practices and unjust enrichment. AOL, which recently acquired the Huffington Post for $315 million (which is what triggered the lawsuit) is also a named defendant.