Quote from ktm:
The text has such broken English that it will not be taken seriously. You will very likely receive a standard form letter as a response as most of the "items" you list are not addressable issues.
The letter provides no evidence that the writer has done any research on the subject whatsoever and has no knowledge of the facts. An hour spent on the internet researching the issue could provide much more useful background.
IB is passing this charge along to their customers, but most brokers are not. Therefore, you may be told to "take it up with your broker, or switch to a broker that does not charge the fee". Of course that means paying at least 10 times as much in commission.
Most option customers of brokers have no knowledge of this since it is not explicitly charged to them, therefore the backlash will be small. From a regulatory standpoint, the governing bodies aren't required to answer to retail customers since the fee is charged from the exchange to the broker, not to the customer. If you did not already have such a great deal from IB, you wouldn't have noticed this fee.