On 05/11/2011 04:19 PM, dar...@chaosreigns.com wrote: > I bet it's largely related to the fact that yahoo is apparently the only > freemail provider that doesn't require you to have a previously existing > email address.
Yahoo does not require an existing address. Hotmail/MSN/Live does not require an existing address. AOL/AIM does not require an existing address. Gmail does not require an existing address. [1][2] Mail.com does not require an existing address. ... It seems GMX.com *does* require an existing address. This appears to be the exception rather than the rule. > I also suspect that, for this reason, google.com would send less spam > if they didn't allow yahoo addresses as the pre-existing address. *If* Gmail were to require an existing address, prohibiting Yahoo addresses *might* make sense. [1] This seems to depend on the IP address used to sign up for the google account. When signing up through a TOR exit node (at least at the time that I tried it, which was > 1yr ago) Gmail asked for either a cellphone number for text confirmation, or an existing email address. Yahoo did not differentiate between TOR exit nodes and non-TOR IPs. [2] Google apps accounts however do seem to require a preexisting email address, however gmail addresses are accepted for that purpose. -- Joe Sniderman <joseph.snider...@thoroquel.org>