Should Your E-Mail Be Forwarded After Switching ISPs?

Here's an interesting article from today's NY Metro. In Washington, DC, there's a debate over whether or not your e-mail should be forwarded after switching service providers. For me, this doesn't really concern me since I've used AOL's e-mail system since I was 15, and over the years signed up for a Yahoo! and Gmail account. But I know many people who rely on their ISPs e-mail service, and once they switch, their e-mail address and messages are gone forever. Well, you can't get to them at least. Right now, there isn't a mandate for e-mail forwarding, like there is for mail forwarding or forwarding your phone number. However, this could all change, because "federal regulators are studying the issue more closely after a complaint from a former AOL customer, Washington-based freelance editor Gail Mortenson, who claims an abrupt termination of service devastated her business." Ouch. How do you feel about this issue? Should there be a mandate for e-mail forwarding, or is there really no point?