[KS] Re: Barnes and Ignoble

[J.C Jamieson]

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Please consider the following Petition. Just copy-and-paste 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 ab-info at bookweb.org

PETITION TO BLOCK BARNES & NOBLE ACQUISITION OF INGRAM
This petition will be sent to the Congress, the 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 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, SanAntonio, TX
11. Louis Mendoza, San Antonio, Texas
12.Bryce Milligan, SanAntonio, 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. Paul Hawken, Sausalito, CA
26. Edward Skloot, New York, NY
27. Suzanne Skloot, New York, NY
28. Joseph Skloot, New York, NY
29. Richard B. Norgaard, Berkeley, CA
30. David Szanton, Berkeley, CA
31. Carol J. Clover, Berkeley, CA
32. Joshua Clover, Berkeley, CA
33. Robert Christgau
34. Thurston Moore, NYC
35. Bill Mooney, Raleigh, NC
36. Michael Carter, NYC
37. Abby Bridge, NYC
38. Jeff Grimes, CA
39. Tricia Roush
40. Adam Cornford, Oakland, CA
41. Karen Balke, Oakland, CA
42. George Mattingly, Berkeley, CA
43. Lucy Farber, Berkeley, CA
44. Owen Brown, San Francisco, CA
45. Bill Watkins, Hong Kong (originally Davis, CA)
46. John C. Jamieson, Hong Kong and Berkeley, CA


.....................................................
J. C. Jamieson
Director (CLC; OISP; Office of Academic Links - International [Acting]),
Professor of Asian Studies
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
Telephone: 85 2 2609-6725; fax: 85 2 2603-5803
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