I tried signing up with my real email address (####@gmx.com), and got told that “The administrator has banned your email address. You will need to change your email address in order to continue”. I’ve never signed up here before, so the only explanation I can come up with is that every email that uses GMX is banned. Is this the case? Why? If not, why was my email banned?
I ended up just using a disposable email service to sign up, but of course that now means I won’t be able to retrieve my account if I forgot my password or anything else.
There also exist the possibilities that your #### prefix either spells a naughty word or is the same as the prefix of a previously-banned poster. The first is not likely and the latter is merely unfortunate.
It’s also possible (from all we know) that the username portion of your e-mail address contained something that tripped a profanity filter.
What’s GMX? If the board has gotten a very large number of problem users from there, and few or no legitimate users, that might also account for a ban.
Certain domains and IP ranges are banned because we’ve had excessive problems with them in the past. I don’t have access to the list of these so I can’t personally tell you whether or not gmx.com is on the list or not.
You can’t use a throwaway e-mail address here. You are required to keep a valid e-mail address in case we need to contact you.
From the SDMB Registration Agreement:
There are plenty of free e-mail providers (gmail, yahoo, etc) that you can use.
I just tried something nonsense like gosndgovnvof@gmx.com and it also said it was banned, so unfortunately it is just all GMX emails that have been banned.
From what I gather, it’s one of the most common email providers in Germany (where it’s based). I’m not from Germany though, I just chose it because I like how it’s just an email service, unlike most other services, where you’re also signing up for other stuff (for example, you’re not really signing up for Gmail, you’re signing up for YouTube, Google Drive, etc.).
Well, that seems like a good way to drive away users. I’m sorry, but I’m not going to go through the hassle of creating another email address just so I can post on a message board.
Also, what do you mean by “excessive problems”? Spambots? Trolls?
It may also have recognized that your IP address is being used by thegoodnamesweretaken and it got blocked as an attempt to create a sock puppet. I recommend you stop testing this…
Free e-mail isn’t throwaway if you keep on using it. Using a throwaway account isn’t something the software can automatically detect (at least, not without occasionally sending you an e-mail and getting confirmation that you received it, which would get obnoxious fast), but it is still against the rules.
I’m here for the content. I leave the geeky stuff for others.
By throwaway it means an account you use solely for the purposes of signing up here but never use or check again. It is not against the rules to create an account just to sign up here as long as it is one that can be used to contact you if needed. When I became a mod I made a new email account strictly for here because it’s easier than wading through all the junk in my main email account to see reports and such for here.
I used 10 minute mail, where all you have to do is copy the email address they give you and that’s it. I’m not going to make up a name, password, email address and date of birth, nor am I going to fill in a captcha, and I’m definitely not going to give them my mobile number.
