Alla, let off as much steam you want. You're among friends. And sometimes one just has to release or explode - not a pretty sight and very, very messy. What we have to realize is that most of these so-called "free" sites, such as GeoCities, Bizland, Tripod, Homestead, etc. are just email address vacuums. They offer these so-called free websites, get you to signup and require a verified email address. Why? They claim various reasons, but the main one is they can't sell unverified email addresses. They can tout their "privacy" policies all they wish, they're lying out of the side of their mouth. To test this theory, I setup a new AOL screen name several months ago. I went to no AOL boards, no Internet newsgroups or websites other than several of these "free" website services where I signed up for their "free" services. In other words, the only people who knew this name existed were these "free" website services and AOL. Now, say what you will about AOL, but they do have a rather strict philosophy regarding their users getting unsolicited and unwanted email. They do not jeopardize their subscriber base by spamming their users' email boxes if that subscriber tells them they do not want any "special" offers in their email box (via their Mail Controls)... AOL does that online with advertising. Anyway, after several months it started to trickle in. A few pieces of spam here and few pieces there. Now, after about 4-5 months, I average up to 12 pieces a day from people who had to have purchased my email address from one of these services. I have no doubt. Interestingly, not a single piece of all of this spam could be considered pornographic. So, I guess for that we should be thankful. Now, once your actual bandwidth use of their "free" service becomes a burden to them -- in other words, your site actually becomes popular or useful to others -- they consider you more expensive than necessary and shut you down. They still have your email address that they can still sell so they could care less. That is why they'll find some reason, any reason, to shut you down. And, eventually, they will get to anyone who uses too much bandwidth. Geesh, talk about ranting! But I've wanted to share my findings with others for a few days now and, I guess, your post just triggered the flood. Oh, well. Just a few rambling, incoherent words on another reason NOT to trust the corporate world (or anyone offering "free" websites). Take care.