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There are several instances of large companies acquiring forums. And it's not just this alleged Vertical Scope company in Canada. From my personal experience (as a user, not mod or administrator, on two such forums that were acquired) the forums end up being trashed by the company that does the acquiring. The forums are still there in name and remain accessible, but all the long time members leave. Post counts drop to nothing. I'm not sure what business model is being followed by the companies that are doing this, as buying something and then destroying it seems counterproductive. My hunch is that it is political or agenda driven rather than profit driven. If my hunch is correct, Mobileread might slip out of the noose since there's not much someone with an agenda could have against book enthusiasts (maybe I'm wrong).
The problem may come by indirect association though. And example from here in the US: The company REI stopped selling CamelBak products (they make backpack hydration bladders so you can drink on the move while hiking). Who could be against that, and why would REI do such a thing? It's because CamelBak is owned by a company, that is owned by a company, that has some subsidiary, that owns a company, that sells firearms. And REI wants to engage in Virtue Signaling against firearms. So poor CamelBak is caught up in REI's idiocy. There is no business reason that REI might have done this, they don't sell firearms, but they have an agenda against them and trashed CamelBak in the process.
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