A group calling itself “Friends of Yahoo” has initiated an online petition to stop a small group of hostile stockholders from forcing Yahoo to sell itself to Microsoft, and to “Let Yahoo Be Yahoo”. (Sign the ‘Let Yahoo Be Yahoo” Petition here.)

Following Yahoo’s rejection of Microsoft’s takeover bid, and the withdrawal of Microsoft’s offer, billionaire Yahoo investor Carl Icahn has snatched up millions of shares of Yahoo in an effort to oust the current board of directors at Yahoo and, along with Mark Cuban and a few others, essentially staged a stock-grab coupe to try to bring Microsoft back to the table and to force Yahoo to accept suitor Microsoft’s offer of unholy matrimony. The reason, of course, was money – Microsoft’s offer looked attractive to Icahn and friends (all the more so now that Icahn has so many more shares of Yahoo).

Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, and the current board, however, felt that Microsoft’s offer grossly undervalued Yahoo and, beyond that, Yang has lots of interesting plans for Yahoo, some of which are already coming to fruition.

In short, Yang is saying “don’t count Yahoo dead, because we’re not”, and many, including us, agree.

That’s why the Internet Patrol supports the right of Yahoo to not sell itself to Microsoft (or anyone), and to remain, well, Yahoo. And that is the reason behind the “Let Yahoo Be Yahoo” petition, which points out that the public and Yahoo’s own users want an independent, autonomous Yahoo.

And without its user base, or public support, an Internet provider such as Yahoo really isn’t worth a whole lot.

You can sign the ‘Let Yahoo Be Yahoo” Petition here.