I'm beginning to hear this more and more, but if people are so unhappy with it, they should move to other exchanges. Start posting up more bids/asks on other exchanges and TRY to be more active in those other exchanges by constantly updating your bid/ask prices to reflect current going market rates and that will encourage other people to join other exchanges as well.
MtGox has a monopoly on the exchange market. Let's change that. Not because I don't like MtGox, but because competition is a very healthy thing for a market/industry/economy.
MtGox has done a stand up job considering. They have the ability to manipulate prices, charge higher fees, and crash the market if they wanted to. They haven't done any such thing (that we're aware of). 0.65% is far below most broker fees and exchange fees that you will be charged for other currencies as an average consumer. For the risk they incur, I'd say 0.65% is too low. They're putting their lives at risk because a government may potentially imprison them unjustly out of fear of what BTC could mean for the balance of economic and political power.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_monopolyNatural monopolies aren't necessarily bad. MtGox isn't really one in my eyes, either, just first to the game at the top. There are competitors to MtGox at this point. Keep in mind that MtGox is only roughly around 14% of the total BTC transactions in the market. I would say, though, that they provide the barometer for BTC->USD above all other exchanges; their BTC->USD price is stared at by all.
http://coinbits.com/mtgox-is-14-of-the-current-transaction-volume/The barriers for another exchange to enter the market aren't terribly high. I've worked at a currency exchange before in the US. There's annoying paperwork, the occasional audit, and general fear that the government is going to find something wrong, but overall it's not bad. For what MtGox is doing to be legal in the US would require an MSB registration and a broker's license. MSB registration is fairly easy to obtain. A broker's license can be obtained by a willing individual, or a broker can be brought on for a cut.
People are fearing MtGox's demise, but a US based competitor that's legal can appear as a competitor very easily in my eyes. Tradehill already is bounds easier than MtGox. I'm not sure if they're legal by being registered and brokered, but they are accepting domestic US wire transfers, which tells me they're operating in the open, so I hope for their sake they're legal. Wire transfers are much easier than the Dwolla->MtGox fiasco that happens, and many magnitudes easier than LibertyReserve. A legitimate exchange in the US could also potentially accept ACH transfers, making it even easier. If you're lucky, you could negotiate a PayPal agreement. Pipe dreams perhaps on that one.
The only major worry I have is the government seeing BTC as a threat and outlawing currency trading for it as a whole. It's so radically different than any other currency out there that it's likely to scare many simple minded politicians trying to retain power and wealth. But I guarantee you many will secretly have BTC for their own wealth if it maintains
