Mail.com sells their domains

ddebug · 26 Jul 2007, 09:25 PM

Just wanted to share the sad story of mail.com - if this is appropriate here...

I've payed for mail.com forwarding services for several years, and quite got used to my email address on one of their domains: writeme.com.
They sold the web site (http://writeme.com) - and many others - without ever informing me!

I was not aware, until my job agent noticed and told me.

Previously, http://writeme.com pointed back to the main web site of mail.com.
Now, this location displays a totally junk, silly, tasteless, uselless page, that is not appropriate for me. When I subscribed to their service, I wanted a decent, neutrally sounding address for private messages, resumes, professional forums etc.

Now, I can't use this address any more - because I just can't add to all my emails notice: "but please don't browse to writeme.com!"

The mail.com support says that they only provide email support and don't care about web sites. Their forwarding serivise by itself works flawless - can't complain on it.
Still I had to abandon this adress and my web identity.

They still offer this domain to new users, and classify it as "Internet" - though it looks more like a fVcking dating playground !

I've recently lost some job interviews due to this idiotic page. Hopefully my wife and relatives won't notice before I move to another address

Morale... review well the user agreement of your email provider: do they have right to sell or rent web space of their domains? Will they keep web pages of these domains clean and consistent with the use you intended for your internet image?

Thanks for reading....

mf1941 · 26 Jul 2007, 11:11 PM

Mail.com, just like any business is looking to maximize profits.

Some care about their customers & some don't mind throwing them under a bus.

"writeme.com" was probably deemed provocative by some deep thinker there & therefore the domain marker page morphed into what you see today.

Earthlink.net has free & better forwarding then Mail.com, Good luck in your transition!

theog · 27 Jul 2007, 02:59 AM

yes, profits is what it boils down to. Actually, that is perfect... you allow for people to signup for emails under the domain, then you put the main site on PPC since many people will click on the domain name of the person sending the email to see what the domain is all about.

Hmm... I have many domains on ppc, but none with ppc and email.... Thanks for the idea mf1941...

Yes, I agree with you, disclosure is best in this case... but I think inbox.com might not have sold the domain if the service is still working... they could have simply changed the dns to a ppc service without changing the mx records.... Or if they did sell, I'd wonder how long the new people will keep the service alive??? Have to wonder.....

mf1941 · 27 Jul 2007, 04:06 AM

writeme.com hasn't been transferred at all,

as mentioned previously all Mail.com domains with the exception of "mail.com" open to a placeholder page and/or a PPC nonsense page.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Technical Contact:
NJDomains, Abuse Contact: abuse@mail.com
Gerald Gorman (abuse@mail.com_gerald.gorman@att.net)
9086960929
Fax: none
33 Knightsbridge Rd.
Piscataway, NJ 08854
US

Status: Locked

Name Servers:
dns01.gpn.register.com
dns02.gpn.register.com
dns03.gpn.register.com
dns04.gpn.register.com
dns05.gpn.register.com

Creation date: 17 Jun 1996 04:00:00
Expiration date: 16 Jun 2008 04:00:00
=-=-=-=

Killer · 27 Jul 2007, 12:40 PM

Your forwarding must have stopped working for some reason. You have to login from mail.com homepage to access your domain emails.

King Of Email · 27 Jul 2007, 02:09 PM

ddebug, I understand your need for a normal, business acceptable email address. In the past such addresses were plentiful and free. Remember Address.com? Nice, easy, normal name but crummy email service. Now it too is no more and a search page website has taken its place. Nowadays many of these addresses that remain are hosted by Everyone.net at 25MB of storage and Everyone.net's own ads and commercial emails to fund the free service. One of the most business-like and ordinary I know of is Businessmailbox.com, again a free Everyone.net email service. At least this email service is hosted by a business related networking resource website. At any rate, here is the link:

http://www.businessmailbox.com/

You may want to test this email service before assuming it is fully functional as Everyone.net email accounts may appear fully operational even though the sponsoring website no longer supports it. This one appears to be up and running and the sponsor has even printed their presumed date of ownership/control at the bottom of the page like this:

Copyright © 2000-2099 - Icthus.Net - All rights reserved

Another one to look at is 123inbox.com, a pretty normal sounding name appropriate to email, again another Everyone.net free service. This one is working as I just checked the inbox. This one's a little bit nicer looking. Here's its link:

http://www.123inbox.com/

jdtaylor · 27 Jul 2007, 04:29 PM

Both systems are based on everyone.net there can be better options with professional hosting companies out there, if you want them with companies such as Simply Mail Solutions, FastHosyts, etc but if you want business class hosting I'd recommend going for a professional company and not someone like everyone.net who might not fully cater for the needs of businesses on their main platforms.

King Of Email · 27 Jul 2007, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdtaylor

Both systems are based on everyone.net there can be better options with professional hosting companies out there, if you want them with companies such as Simply Mail Solutions, FastHosyts, etc but if you want business class hosting I'd recommend going for a professional company and not someone like everyone.net who might not fully cater for the needs of businesses on their main platforms.

jd, I'm not suggesting someone abandon pay for service email business accounts for free ones. I am only listing free business appropriate alternatives for personal auxiliary contact addresses.

Killer · 28 Jul 2007, 08:26 AM

ddebug was using a paid account with mail.com. If he have a pay account with everyone.net instead there will be no ads, better anti-spams filters and also stability and faster in speed of access.

markwolk · 30 Jul 2007, 03:43 AM

Quote:

writeme.com hasn't been transferred at all

Just a warning that whois information does not necessarily mean that the listed contact is the current owner of the domain.

Many registrars keep expired domains, together with all previous whois information, and place junk homepages on them.

It happened to me recently with a major Icann registrar. My domain had expired because their reminder emails never reached me. A junk homepage appeared instead of my site; but the whois still listed me as the owner, with an expiry date in 2008. Seemingly a widespread practice.

Killer · 30 Jul 2007, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markwolk

A junk homepage appeared instead of my site; but the whois still listed me as the owner, with an expiry date in 2008. Seemingly a widespread practice.

What can be done to remove the false info?

markwolk · 30 Jul 2007, 12:43 PM

To remove a false whois info such as that one (assuming you do not want to keep the domain), email or contact the registrar.

stan marsh · 27 Aug 2007, 05:35 PM

Actually, the information is NOT false. Registrars MUST display registrant's details until the domain will be deleted from the Registry (that is expiration date plus approx. 75 days).

aleinss · 28 Aug 2007, 01:39 AM

I would suggest registering your own domain name and then having a service like Tuffmail or Fastmail host your email. If they go down hill, you point your MX record at someone else and move on.

I own my domain name (leinss.com) for the next 10 years, plan to renew it another 10 years after that. Goes on all business cards, etc. with no worries.

26 Jul 2007, 09:25 PM	#1
ddebug Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 10	Mail.com sells their domains Just wanted to share the sad story of mail.com - if this is appropriate here... I've payed for mail.com forwarding services for several years, and quite got used to my email address on one of their domains: writeme.com. They sold the web site (http://writeme.com) - and many others - without ever informing me! I was not aware, until my job agent noticed and told me. Previously, http://writeme.com pointed back to the main web site of mail.com. Now, this location displays a totally junk, silly, tasteless, uselless page, that is not appropriate for me. When I subscribed to their service, I wanted a decent, neutrally sounding address for private messages, resumes, professional forums etc. Now, I can't use this address any more - because I just can't add to all my emails notice: "but please don't browse to writeme.com!" The mail.com support says that they only provide email support and don't care about web sites. Their forwarding serivise by itself works flawless - can't complain on it. Still I had to abandon this adress and my web identity. They still offer this domain to new users, and classify it as "Internet" - though it looks more like a fVcking dating playground ! I've recently lost some job interviews due to this idiotic page. Hopefully my wife and relatives won't notice before I move to another address Morale... review well the user agreement of your email provider: do they have right to sell or rent web space of their domains? Will they keep web pages of these domains clean and consistent with the use you intended for your internet image? Thanks for reading....

27 Jul 2007, 02:09 PM	#6
King Of Email Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 622	Business appropriate email addresses ddebug, I understand your need for a normal, business acceptable email address. In the past such addresses were plentiful and free. Remember Address.com? Nice, easy, normal name but crummy email service. Now it too is no more and a search page website has taken its place. Nowadays many of these addresses that remain are hosted by Everyone.net at 25MB of storage and Everyone.net's own ads and commercial emails to fund the free service. One of the most business-like and ordinary I know of is Businessmailbox.com, again a free Everyone.net email service. At least this email service is hosted by a business related networking resource website. At any rate, here is the link: http://www.businessmailbox.com/ You may want to test this email service before assuming it is fully functional as Everyone.net email accounts may appear fully operational even though the sponsoring website no longer supports it. This one appears to be up and running and the sponsor has even printed their presumed date of ownership/control at the bottom of the page like this: Copyright © 2000-2099 - Icthus.Net - All rights reserved Another one to look at is 123inbox.com, a pretty normal sounding name appropriate to email, again another Everyone.net free service. This one is working as I just checked the inbox. This one's a little bit nicer looking. Here's its link: http://www.123inbox.com/

26 Jul 2007, 11:11 PM	#2
mf1941 Essential Contributor Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Sound Beach, N.Y. Posts: 261	Mail.com, just like any business is looking to maximize profits. Some care about their customers & some don't mind throwing them under a bus. "writeme.com" was probably deemed provocative by some deep thinker there & therefore the domain marker page morphed into what you see today. Earthlink.net has free & better forwarding then Mail.com, Good luck in your transition!

27 Jul 2007, 02:59 AM	#3
theog = Permanently banned = Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: 1 Microsoft Way Posts: 2,119	yes, profits is what it boils down to. Actually, that is perfect... you allow for people to signup for emails under the domain, then you put the main site on PPC since many people will click on the domain name of the person sending the email to see what the domain is all about. Hmm... I have many domains on ppc, but none with ppc and email.... Thanks for the idea mf1941... Yes, I agree with you, disclosure is best in this case... but I think inbox.com might not have sold the domain if the service is still working... they could have simply changed the dns to a ppc service without changing the mx records.... Or if they did sell, I'd wonder how long the new people will keep the service alive??? Have to wonder.....

27 Jul 2007, 04:06 AM	#4
mf1941 Essential Contributor Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Sound Beach, N.Y. Posts: 261	writeme.com hasn't been transferred at all, as mentioned previously all Mail.com domains with the exception of "mail.com" open to a placeholder page and/or a PPC nonsense page. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Technical Contact: NJDomains, Abuse Contact: abuse@mail.com Gerald Gorman (abuse@mail.com_gerald.gorman@att.net) 9086960929 Fax: none 33 Knightsbridge Rd. Piscataway, NJ 08854 US Status: Locked Name Servers: dns01.gpn.register.com dns02.gpn.register.com dns03.gpn.register.com dns04.gpn.register.com dns05.gpn.register.com Creation date: 17 Jun 1996 04:00:00 Expiration date: 16 Jun 2008 04:00:00 =-=-=-=

27 Jul 2007, 12:40 PM	#5
Killer Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Singapore Posts: 6,762 Representative of: Killer.kkk.sg	Your forwarding must have stopped working for some reason. You have to login from mail.com homepage to access your domain emails.

27 Jul 2007, 04:29 PM	#7
jdtaylor Master of the @ Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 1,693	Both systems are based on everyone.net there can be better options with professional hosting companies out there, if you want them with companies such as Simply Mail Solutions, FastHosyts, etc but if you want business class hosting I'd recommend going for a professional company and not someone like everyone.net who might not fully cater for the needs of businesses on their main platforms.

28 Jul 2007, 08:26 AM	#9
Killer Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Singapore Posts: 6,762 Representative of: Killer.kkk.sg	ddebug was using a paid account with mail.com. If he have a pay account with everyone.net instead there will be no ads, better anti-spams filters and also stability and faster in speed of access.

30 Jul 2007, 12:43 PM	#12
markwolk Essential Contributor Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Christchurch, New Zealand Posts: 346	To remove a false whois info such as that one (assuming you do not want to keep the domain), email or contact the registrar.

27 Aug 2007, 05:35 PM	#13
stan marsh Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: South Park, Colorado Posts: 15	Actually, the information is NOT false. Registrars MUST display registrant's details until the domain will be deleted from the Registry (that is expiration date plus approx. 75 days).

28 Aug 2007, 01:39 AM	#14
aleinss Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 71	I would suggest registering your own domain name and then having a service like Tuffmail or Fastmail host your email. If they go down hill, you point your MX record at someone else and move on. I own my domain name (leinss.com) for the next 10 years, plan to renew it another 10 years after that. Goes on all business cards, etc. with no worries.