From: owner-goths-digest@smoe.org (goths-digest) To: goths-digest@smoe.org Subject: goths-digest V3 #49 Reply-To: goths@smoe.org Sender: owner-goths-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-goths-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk goths-digest Thursday, February 25 1999 Volume 03 : Number 049 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Petition [KrodKnid@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 03:48:51 EST From: KrodKnid@aol.com Subject: Re: Petition This petition is important to the small independent booksellers. Please take a moment to sign it. If you are the 50th, 100th, 150th signature, please e-mail the petition to the AMERICAN BOOKSELLERS ASSOCIATION, e-mail address ab-info@bookweb.org . PETITION TO BLOCK BARNES & NOBLE ACQUISITION OF INGRAM This petition will be sent to the US 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 other 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 get 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 & 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 anticompetitive 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. Please add your name to this petition and forward it to as many people as you can. IMPORTANT: Do not use the "Forward" utility in your mail program. Instead, cut and paste this message into a new e-mail, add your name to the bottom of the list, and send it out. 1. Meg Gouraud, Canon City CO 2. Garrison Keillor, St. Paul MN. 3. Roy Blount Jr., NY NY 4. Ridley Pearson, Bellevue ID. 5. Amy Tan, San Francisco CA 6. Stewart Wallace, New York NY 7. Richard Einhorn, NY, NY 8. Norman Hollyn, Santa Monica CA 9. JoAnn Hanley, Los Angeles CA 10. Isabel King, Gardena CA 11. Maya Conn, Santa Monica CA 12. Matthew Weinstein, Brooklyn NY 13. Alice Shechter, Brooklyn NY 14. Bj Richards, Oak Park, Il. 15. Susan Salidor, Chicago, IL 16. Elaine Lorber, Raleigh, NC 17. Kim Lorber, NY, NY 18. Adele Weiner, NY, NY 19. Suzanne Costallos, NY. NY 20. Marija Stroke, NY, NY 21. Bruce Adolphe, Ny. NY 22.Tara Helen O'Connor NY NY 23.Daniel Phillips NY, NY 24. Catherine Cho, NY, NY 25. Nardo Poy, NY, NY 26. Lynne Richter, Hilton Head, SC 27.Andrew Fenner,Oxford,Ohio ------------------------------ End of goths-digest V3 #49 **************************