Gail M. Mortenson, a Washington-based freelance editor filed a six-page petition with the FCC to request that Internet service providers be required to forward email from a closed account to a new email address for six months. Her action came after AOL closed her email account, which cut her off from communications with potential clients and harmed her business.

Major email providers like Yahoo and Google have not commented on the petition, but Richi Jennings an analyst with Ferris Research said that the FCC could require ISPs to provide free email forwarding, but it would be expensive to do. He said providers usually have low margins and are dependent on volume to make a profit.

In the petition to the FCC Mortneson writes, "The time is ripe for the FCC to step forward and impose a regulatory obligation on ISPs which is sorely needed and long overdue. I therefore petition the FCC to initiate a rulemaking immediately in order to prevent other Americans from experiencing the cavalier and crushing loss which I suffered at the hands of AOL."

It will be interesting to see what if anything the FCC will do with Mortneson’s petition.