Presumably the " ISPs, hosting companies and so forth " are all
Charities then?
If you set up, say, a Yahoo account (I've a few) you can 'make up' a
Postcode (I also use a US ZIP-code)/Profile/Name.
The only thing 'Personal' is they have your ISP address - as do the
other Web-Sites that you visit.

Tell you what..
The info is on the V-C-A site.
You just copy it and set up an ever-so-PC site..I'll even link to it..
See how much extra 'Forum Activity' it attracts.
As an aside, I do feel that a specific 'Non-Quad/Leak, etc' site
devoted to British HiFi manufactured by the smaller/cottage Co's (like
Armstrong..) would be good - but I'm not creating it..











I'm with Jim here - companies like Yahoo and Goofle are in the business of
corporatising the Web - it is so easy to do stuff like set up Web space,
forums and the like. Agreed that this latter course probably means some
reliance on ISPs, hosting companies and so forth - but going with the likes
of Yahoo just doesn't feel attractive to me - at least. Having begun to
get some individual empowerment it seems a pity to throw it away and end up
in the rather dubious clutches of a few massive corporate entities.