Internet service providers should be required to provide e-mail a...

FCC. Gail Mortenson said her AOL e- mail account was abruptly canceled after AOL learned that the account, tied to AOL’s old Internet subscription service, had been opened by her son when he was a minor, though she paid for it. A freelance copy editor in the District of Columbia, Mortenson said prospective customers couldn’t reach her after AOL closed the account, and she lost access to e-mails stored online. AOL canceled the account with “no notice whatsoever,” Mortenson said, and she’s considering legal action against the company. The petition was filed July 20 but surfaced only recently. E-mail addresses are just as crucial for public identity as phone numbers, she said, and the U.S. Postal Service also forwards mail for six months after an address change. “As in the pre-LNP days, consumers and businesses are effectively held hostage by their ISPs,” she said. Mortenson cited the FCC’s “broad ancillary authority” over communications that may appear outside its scope, such as VoIP, but are “critical telecommunications- like services” with a strong public interest component. CALEA, E-911, disability access and USF contributions were all imposed on IP-based communications through ancillary authority, she said. “There is no reason to treat e-mail address portability any differently.”