Ownership Of Gored Oxen Dept.

Today I received a no doubt well-intended email which began:

If Net Neutrality is gutted, advocacy and non-profit groups either pay protection money to dominant Internet providers or risk that online activism tools don't work for their members. Commercial entities like Amazon and Google will either pay protection money or risk that their websites process slowly on your computer. That's why these high-tech pioneers are joining the fight to protect Network Neutrality -and you can do your part today.

It goes on to urge people to read about a campaign by MoveOn at this link, which links on to an on-line petition you can sign, if you choose. I was driven to recall words from a now-old novel (Part 2, Chapter X):

"You can't do that! You're a common carrier! You have no right to discriminate against me! I'll report it to the Unification Board!"