My e-mail did not work for 45 hours, but now seems to be working again.

March 31: My e-mail has not been working properly for about 45 hours. Network Solutions disabled my domain name of ishipress.com because I had not paid the $35 per year domain registration fee. I paid yesterday morning by credit card, but I still did not get my e-mail.

This morning, I paid online by credit card again, using a slightly different web site.

This time it apparently solved the problem and I am starting to get e-mail again, but it is trickling in. I am told that it will take a few days for the word to propagate to ISPs around the world that my ISHIPRESS.COM domain name is valid again.

I am enraged at Network Solutions for doing this. They never sent me any notification, either by e-mail or by regular mail, that I owed them money, although they have sent me e-mail letters regularly offering to let me reserve my domain name for the next ten years at a reduced rate.

This no doubt all has to do with the efforts being made to break up the monopoly which Network Solutions has over domain names.

I normally get more than 100 e-mails per day. If you have sent me a letter within the last two days and have received a bounce message back, please send it again.

Sam Sloan


From: "Vincent Poirier"
To: sloan@ishipress.com
Subject: Network Solutions
Date: Sun, 02 Apr 2000 17:54:34 PDT

Mr Sloan,

You and Bill Gates had the same problem.

On Christmas day 1999, Hotmail started bouncing users trying to access their email at www.hotmail.com. Why? Because once the login button was pressed, Hotmail transfers authentication to a site called Passport, and through some silly error, Microsoft FORGOT TO PAY the same $35.00 you did :)

The first person to figure out the cause was Michael Chaney (a LINUX consultant, see http://www.doublewide.net/) who paid the 35.00 and fixed the problem. Microsoft later sent him a check for $500.00, a ridiculous reward considering how much money Microserfs make. Anyway, I believe Mr. Chaney auctioned off the check uncashed for about $2000.00.

So, you're in good company Mr. Sloan.

Vincent Poirier


Here are links:
My Home Page

Contact address - please send e-mail to the following address: Sloan@ishipress.com