Yahoo! to Distribute Inactive E-mail Accounts to Other Users

Yahoo! will distribute inactive e-mail accounts to other users looking for shorter and more memorable IDs. E-mails that haven`t been used for at least 12 months will be available to other subscribers, the company said in a blog post.

“If you`re like me, you want a Yahoo! ID that`s short, sweet, and memorable like albert@yahoo.com instead of albert9330399@yahoo.com,” Jay Rossiter, the company`s senior vice president for platforms, said. “A Yahoo! ID is not only your email address, it also gives you access to content tailored to your interests ” like sports scores for your favorite teams, weather in your hometown, and news that matters to you.”

By mid-July, users have a shot at registering the Yahoo! ID they want. In mid-August, people who claimed new usernames will discover which one they got.

The company also gave a deadline to those who haven`t logged into the e-mail service for over a year, but want to keep their IDs. “All you have to do is log on to any Yahoo! product before July 15^th,” Jay Rossiter said. The accounts will remain active if users sign in at least once a year.

The Internet company didn`t specify how many e-mail accounts were inactive in the last year. In the last few months, Yahoo introduced changes to several products, including Flickr, Mail, Weather, the Homepage and Search.

Recently, the company lost 6 million users and significant homepage traffic after British communications provider BT dumped the email services following months of hacking complaints. BT also said the system that will replace Yahoo! will feature in-built antivirus and anti-spam solutions.

The year began on a negative note for the Internet company, as several cyber-attacks seized control of Yahoo accounts. Bitdefender Labs discovered the hacking campaigns and warned users once again about the dangers of account hijacking and spammy links.