BugMeNot
BugMeNot is an Internet service that provides usernames and passwords allowing Internet users to bypass mandatory free registration on websites. It was started in August 2003 by an anonymous person, later revealed to be Guy King, and allowed Internet users to access websites that have registration walls with the requirement of compulsory registration. This came in response to the increasing number of websites that request such registration, which many Internet users find to be an annoyance and a potential source of email spam.
Use of the service
BugMeNot allows users of their service to add new accounts for sites with free registration. It also encourages users to use disposable email address services to create such accounts. However, it does not allow them to add accounts for paid websites, as this could potentially lead to credit card fraud. BugMeNot also claims to remove accounts for any website, requesting that they do not provide accounts for non-registered users.To help make access to their service easier, BugMeNot hosts a bookmarklet that can be used with any browser to automatically find a usable account from their service. They also host extensions for the web browsers Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Google Chrome. There are also implementations in the form of a BugMeNot Opera widget, or Features of the Opera [web browser#User JavaScript|UserJS] scripts along with buttons, which makes it fully browser-integrated. An Android application is also available.
Opting out
BugMeNot provides an option for site owners to block their site from the BugMeNot database, if they match one or more of the following criteria:- A community site where users register to change content, but not to view it
- The site is pay-per-view
- There is a fraud risk associated with the site due to accounts containing private financial information
Temporary shutdown and return
Nearly a year after it was created, BugMeNot was shut down temporarily by its service provider, HostGator. The site's creator claimed BugMeNot's host was pressured by websites to shut them down, though Hostgator claimed that the BugMeNot site was repeatedly crashing their servers.The BugMeNot domain was transferred briefly to another hosting company, dissidenthosting.com, but before the site was set up, it began to redirect visitors to web pages belonging to racist groups, without the knowledge or consent of the site's owner. BugMeNot moved again, to NearlyFreeSpeech.NET. BugMeNot's move to this provider, which also hosts a number of highly controversial sites, prompted BugMeNot's creator to say, "Personally, I don't care if I'm sharing a server with neo-Nazis. I might not agree with what they have to say, but the whole thing about freedom of speech is that people are free to speak."
Shortly after BugMeNot returned, reports surfaced that some news sites had begun to attempt to block accounts posted on BugMeNot, though the extent and effectiveness of such efforts, as well as compliance with BugMeNot's Terms of Use, are not known.