It remains to be seen whether ownership by CL/Z would stifle free speech. Most people here don't have harsh things to say about the companies or the software, outside of the 4.0.3 patch debacle. What I would point out is that the most useful forums which are company-owned are ones that focus on advanced technical issues, not galleries or user-to-user support groups. If there were a forum where someone from GE/CL/Z answered questions about advanced joint manipulation or the finer points of the .CR file format, tricks, tips, lighting techniques, future improvements to the software, etc., that would be more than appropriate. However, this is a portal, an online community, and we generally prefer the appearance of objectivity. When MacUser bought Macworld, Macworld's subscribers howled at being taken over by the inferior publication. Columnists skeptical of the integration were fired. Prodigy was founded by a disgruntled AOL sysadmin who was let go for censoring posts indiscriminately. Users of the new service soon learned that posts critical of Prodigy would also disappear, and it wasn't long before Prodigy found itself the defendant of a class-action suit. We don't pay $25 a month to be members of this community, which is why they were entitled to sue. Our rights are whatever the TOS says they are, or aren't. This is only 'my' site insofar as I contribute to it and it relates to an interest of mine. That said, owners of a portal like this one need to remember they provide a highly generic commodity in a competitive arena, and that the Internet shows no signs of becoming a seller's market any time soon. The content Osity offers is wholly provided by its community, down to file storage. It's a two-edged sword, but it's sharper on the side facing the owners. The challenge of finding another forum is far smaller than the challenge of building another community from scratch, something potential buyers should be keenly aware of.