Hi: Please consider the following petition.
Just Copy and Paste (not "forward"!) the following into a new message, add
your name to the list, and send to all folks you know who would support this
measure.THE PETITION:
This is so important to the small independent bookseller, please take
a moment to sign. If you are the 50th, 100th, 150th signature, please
e-mail the petition to the AMERICAN BOOKSELLERS ASSOCIATION, e-mail
address ... [log in to unmask]

PETITION TO BLOCK BARNES & NOBLE AQUISITION OF INGRAM

This petition will be sent to the Congress, Department of Justice, and
the Federal Trade Commission to block Barnes & Noble's proposed
acquisition of the Ingram Book Company, the single largest supplier of
books to small bookstores across the country. This acquisition, should
it be allowed to take place, is just one more example of the large-scale
corporate consolidation that has infiltrated every corner of our culture.

As the desire intensifies to increase bottom-line profits, no matter
what the consequences, so does the concentration of power in the
book industry. Consumers are left with an environment in which fewer
and fewer people are deciding which books should be published and,
ultimately, which books Americans can read and buy.

Barnes & Noble has already entered into an alliance with the $14 billion
media giant, German-owned Bertelsmann AG. Now with Barnes and
Noble's proposed acquisition of the billion dollar Ingram Book Company,
there can be little doubt that the book industry is falling prey to the
same anti-competitive ills that currently plague computer software and
other industries. This deal would make independent bookstores virtually
dependent upon their largest competitor for their books. (It is as if
Burger King and Wendy's had to buy their french fries from McDonald's).

We need your help. As a patron of independent booksellers, please sign
the petition to help us lobby the government to stop this proposed
merger. Please exercise your right as a citizen and tell the government how
you feel. We sincerely thank you for your support.
1. Meg Gouraud, Canon City, CO
2. Pat Wiles, Guffey, CO
3. Chris Rivers, Guffey, CO
4. Shiner Antiorio, Asheville. NC
5. Toba Spitzer, Watertown MA
6. Melissa Minkin, Los Angeles, CA
7. tova stabin, eugene, OR
8. Aurora Levins Morales, Berkeley, CA
9. Luz Guerra, Austin, TX
10. Marianne Bueno, San Antonio, TX
11. Louis Mendoza, San Antonio, Texas
12. Bryce Milligan, San Antonio, TX
13. Rose Catacalos, Stanford, CA
14. Perla Cavazos, Austin, TX
15. Tammy Gomez, Austin, TX
16. P. D. Jolley, Austin, TX
17. Richard Lyons, Austin, TX
18. Rosemarie Vardell, Efland, NC
19. Dan Bellm, San Francisco, CA
20. Nancy Halloran, San Francisco, CA
21. David Couch, San Francisco, CA
22. Susan Moon, Berkeley, CA
23. Taigen Dan Leighton, Fairfax, CA
24. Peter Coyote, Mill Valley, CA.
25. Carol Shoup-Sanders, San Francisco, CA
26. Bernard Weiner, San Francisco, CA
27. Kate Donohue, San Franciso, CA
28. Carol Adrienne, El Cerrito, CA
29. Arlene Bernstein, Napa, CA
30. Ellyn Hament, San Francisco, CA
31. Linda Jupiter, Little River, CA
32. Alice Ansfield, Oakland, CA
33. Cheri Erdman, Downers Grove, IL
34. Judy Sullivan, Morro Bay, CA
35. Susan Mason, East Rutherford, NJ
36. Michelle Young, Binghamton, NY
37. John Konopak, Norman OK