Banning Yahoo/Hotmail/Hushmail etc

[Ozzy]

What are your thoughts on banning users with throw away email addresses from registering on these forums? They are business forums after all so in theory everyone should have a valid email address ... shoudln't they?

All users already registered would not be affected, and this is just a thought for discussion.

 

[creospace]

I think that is terribly over assumptious and creates an exclusivity feel to the forums which again is dammaging.

'Sorry you're not welcome here because you don't have a proper email address'

That is the message that woudl be put accross to those wanting to join, not a message I would want to protray but then it's not my call!

This forum is a great place for new commers to business or those that haven't started yet and they are unlikely to have a domian yet etc.

Gary

 

Ack, Gary, it costs only a few quid to buy a domain from 1-2-3 for 2 years. If someone's serious about going into business, they're not going to be using a hotmail addy.

I bought my domain 9 months before I started trading. But even if I hadn't, I could have registered somewhere like this using my BT addy.

Of course we want to encourage start-ups to join in here but there's already too many spammers on here using free addies.

A lot of forums on all kinds of topics don't permit free web-based addies.

 

[creospace]

You missed the point!!!!

What about all the people who aren't business savy and don't realise this?

That's great you got your domain early and it's great they only cost £2 but that's irrelevent if you don't know what you're doing. Actually it reminds me of this weekend when an american guy addressed a load of Latvians and said ' Ok who doesn't understand English' to which I pointed out well they won't understand that and can't reply either if they don't understand!

Spam is here and creating a cast system based on email address won't help.

 

[Cornish Steve]

I agree with Gary on this one. The forums are a valuable resource for individuals who plan to go into business in the future, and they may not have a business email address. I must admit that I don't use a business email address here because I like to filter different types of message into different mailboxes.

 

[cjd]

It's something we regularly consider but when we look at our userbase we find a very large number of very good customers using disposable emails. So we carry out other checks instead.

I think a lot of people use them for new things that they're not sure about. I know I do - I don't normally use my personal or business address unless I'm buying something or dealing with someone I know - that way I keep my own personal spam count down.

If you ban them you may reduce the spammers (which I assume is your reason) but you may also reduce your newbies.

In the end it comes down to how big a problem it is for you.

 

[bwglaw]

What about all the people who aren't business savy and don't realise this?

Then just maybe they are not ready for business.

I have voted yes...

 

[10Yetis]

I think people researching their potential business may still use a hotmail or Gmail address and as such i would like to see it being kept.

I like it that we have such a mix of businesses at various stages of growth and ditching certain email addresses could harm this.

As a side issue, we have one rather large property client who only uses hotmail email for his business... including for his staff. It is a real pain in the ass and I always fear their emails get sucked into spam filters.

 

[Astaroth]

The problem is that there are just too many free sources of email addresses - anyone who truly wants to spam will do so and blocking the most common ones like Hotmail will only make a minor dent but will annoy genuine users that happen to use Hotmail etc as their main email account for registering for sites (some people dont have business email accounts and even those that do may not want to give it out to a forum due to fear of spam)

 

[lesliedocherty]

Hi,

I am going with the not banning group, seems elitist and there seems to be lots of people starting up, with no website that could do with the valuable support offered by this site.

leslie

 

[CG Effect]

The guys asking these questions will be caught by the catch 22.

How do I start a business?
How do I start a website?

It's a bit like taking your kid to join swimming lessons and the guy says he can't join till he has won a swimming race.
I started my website business by just learning on business forums. Can't remember if I first started using this one.

 

[Sue F]

I get a bit upset about the great Hotmail hate debate ...

I use Hotmail for shopping and forums etc to keep my social life separate from my business life. I have lots of folders and correspondance and "things to do" folders etc in my business account so keeping my other stuff seperate means it's easier to keep track of and when bogus emails from Paypal, Ebay, various banks etc pop in to my business inbox they are easy to spot.

I've used Hotmail for a long time and I'm not up to anything under hand.

Ok so your forum is for business people but not all Hotmail users are bad people

 

[fastfences]

On first instinct I would have voted yes, ban them. But after reading through this thread I believe there is merit in leaving as is.

Don't forget that much spam comes from members with domain addresses; I just believe that it's not 'essential' to have one!

Cheers, Nigel

 

[bwglaw]

cannot remember if this site requests an email address verification in order to register. If not then there is nothing to stop someone using someone else's domain in order to gain access

 

[Ozzy]

The way it works is that if you verify your email address your posts are instantly posted on the forum without moderation. If you do not verify your email address then any posts or replies you make do not appear on the forum until a moderator approves the post.

I originally said ban then, and then like Nigel I now think keep them after reading these replies. See, thats what I love about this place - getting constructive feedback like this

 

[SuffolkDesigns]

I would leave it as is, alot of people use free addresses for forum membership to reduce the amount of spam they receive in their business e-mail account as alot of forums are guilty of selling mail addresses.

 

[TheAussieScott]

New people working within a business may not want to register with their work email yet their personal one. However the result of the vote says no. But how many who voted had a personal email address!

 

[Sue F]

See, thats what I love about this place - getting constructive feedback like this

Good recovery Richard

 

[Ender]

I help run a forum and it helped cut back on a lot of spam when we banned mail.ru and cachette.com email addresses. These people were using robots to make their postings. I wonder if there's a similar problem here?

Cheers,
Ender.

 

[multilingual]

Absolutely not.

I joined with a free email address, in the same way that I don't put my business email address on mailing lists or download forms.

I am always wary of handing over my business email to unknown sources.

I would not have joined if that was the policy.

JB

 

[creacom]

I dont think you should ban people with a free address.

What about people who are in the research stages of business ? Its a bit like setting a level and saying " Well if you dont know that it looks better for you to have your own domain name then you aint getting in !! "

Not very fair in my opinion.

Lots of people I know are in business still use a free account for emails.

Jacqui

 

[webit]

I have addressed for each business for registrations done under the names of the business but for stuff that covers everything (i.e. where I am registering on a forum) I use my Yahoo! account. After all I might sell a business one day.

 

[Write My Site]

I started my business with a temporary yahoo address, then moved to a proper domain address once I'd finished the research, got the site ready and chosen my hosting provider etc. I wouldn't like to think I'd have been banned from the forum on this basis. So I say - no banning of web-based addresses!

 

[cjd]

I help run a forum and it helped cut back on a lot of spam when we banned mail.ru and cachette.com email addresses. These people were using robots to make their postings. I wonder if there's a similar problem here?

mail.ru is a common source of viagra clone product spam for us - get about 50 'erectjon, give your partner bigger explosion' spams per day from them - beginning to not find them funny anymore and will auto delete when I get aroundtoit.

 

[Indianexporter]

Well I think it should be allowed coz many Business man dont wanna give their primary paid Email ID coz of spamming .... So this idea may keep away many members ...........so let Ids like yahoo , etc go on ....

 

[boro97]

Well i have a buisness email address and i also use a hotmail address for everyday stuff so i'd say don't ban hotmail and yahoo ,
i use hotmail for this forum.

 

[andysv1k]

I think it would be a quite valid idea to ban these addresses, i know it may seem a little harsh and for a lot of forums i dont think it would be a good idea, but for here it does make sense.

I bet most of the contibutors have either their own domain email addresses, or an ISP address. Theres no problem with receiving spam from using these addresses either, you can change your own settings as far as emails go and if you are worried about it, create a new address for the site like [email protected]

like has been said, existing accounts wont be affected either.

Andy.

 

[easyasit]

there is some justiciation in what richard offers.
We are a business forum after all but i have to disagree and say no.

We are here also for new startups who do not necessarilty have domain emails like all here do. We ban them, you will lose new members i think.
i mean wen i first joined i did not have one. I was @hotmail or something.

Stil there is my two bobs worth

Al

 

[arcon5]

What if they want to use something like GMail as it groups emails, and keep their business email as a seperate entity!

 

[mark_hadfield]

I have several business 'proper' email addresses, and several free addresses. I am registered on this site ona gmail account.

I do that as with many (not neccessarily this one) boards your harvested email address can be an easy way to open youself up to lots and lots of spam. I'd rather have this at a free account as opposed to work accounts.

 

[mtw]

I think the arguments have all been made, but I voted 'no'. Like others, I'm on here with a Gmail address just because I like to separate stuff out that way.

That said, I know it's not a perfect world and *something* has to be done to control spam...

Mark

 

[Matt1959]

Then just maybe they are not ready for business.

I have voted yes...

eh????

The world doesn't revolve around emails or the internet for everyone. Its only by registering with this site that I realised having a non biz email address was frowned upon. To date, my busines hasn't embraced the internet but now it must and I'll be changing it. This all doesn't mean I havn't got a clue - at least I have an established and ongoing business that pays its way albeit a small one which is more than can be said for Pie-in-the-sky.com (of which there appear to be loads)

I actually think this email thing is a bit of an overblown issue and can't see how it matters when just using a Forum:|

 

I have and still do use occasionally, a btinternet address. When i first set up in business it didn't strike me as being throw away....only time bestows that upon us

 

[Arcadian]

btinternet is bad?? I didn't know that .. how embarrassing. What about people who run several businesses? I have about 8 "proper" e-mail addresses (yes, it is quite possible to run them without knowing everything about the internet - I just pay other people to know about it) but I don't know which business I might be talking to people about on here. For that matter I don't necessarily want to be selling them something when I e-mail them. So I use a general one.

There's no real answer to the forum spam problem apart from the Mods having no life.