The online petition seems to be the new vehicle for harnessing the power of consumers to make their views known to sellers of services, good or bad. The flap over a new $2 fee by Verizon Wireless (my carrier) is the latest example. No government regulation was necessary to force the company to respond to its customers. Verizon killed the fee. I’m willing to bet that, had Verizon determined there was more benefit than cost to the company over the fee, it would have ignored the reaction.