Why is it important to know about a website's parent company?

Then again, there are some times when the average Joe doesn't benefit from the proliferation of conglomerations. When many, many outlets are combined under one company, the choices available to the consumer decrease. Consider what's happened with the news media in the United States. Many newspapers are owned by one gigantic company. Most radio stations play the same music because they are owned by a few select companies.

The situation gets even steamier when the net neutrality debate is thrown into the mix. Proponents of net neutrality think it's important to keep the web open to any content that is posted there. Having this sort of freedom to express opinion and use the web as a tool has what made the internet one of the greatest innovations of our time. But some are afraid that this sort of freedom may be squashed by giant telecommunications providers. Since the internet service provider market is dominated by a few large companies, groups like savetheinternet.com are worried that these companies will start to filter what kinds of content their subscribers can see. By slowing down the content of competitors and giving priority to websites that they are affiliated with, large telephone and cable companies could provide internet users with a limited menu of options.

Where is your log hosted? Is it a part of the same company that hosts your pictures? What about your social networking website? What is it connected to? These are all questions to keep in the back of your mind when you're using the internet. Having lots of venue options is essential to hearing a broad spectrum of voices and ideas. Isn't this what the internet is all about?