Frequently Asked Questions

What's this all about then?

BugMeNot.com was created as a mechanism to quickly bypass the login of web sites that require compulsory registration and/or the collection of personal/demographic information (such as the New York Times).

How do I use this thing?

Please read the brief tutorial.

Why not just register?

• It's a breach of privacy.
• Sites don't have a great track record with the whole spam thing.
• It's contrary to the fundamental spirit of the net.
• It's pointless due to the significant percentage of users who enter fake demographic details anyway.
• It's a waste of time.
• It's annoying as hell.
• Imagine if every site required registration to access content.

Is it ethically justifiable to do this?

Consider an internet where all content is locked behind a registration wall.

How do I get a site blocked?

You can request a site is blocked from this system over here.

Is there a faster way of using BugMeNot.com?

Drag this bookmarklet on to your bookmark toolbar / favourites. Click it when you need a login.

If you're using the FireFox / Mozilla / Netscape browser then check out this excellent context menu extension that Eric Hamiter has written.

My browser closes after I submit a URL to get a login.

This is a behaviour of the Firefox plugin. Try disabling the "Close Bugmenot window on first try" option. Go to: Tools > Extensions > Bugmenot > Options

The Firefox plugin just sits there trying to update the server list.

Try disabling the "Automatically retrieve latest set of Bugmenot servers" option. Go to: Tools > Extensions > Bugmenot > Options

I want to help out is there some way I can donate to the cause?

If you'd like to make a donation towards the cause then the EFF is a great place to start. They're a non-profit organisation which work to make the internet a better place through actively supporting and advocating security and privacy initiatives.

Why can't I browse the sites on BugMeNot.com?

Firstly it encourages porn sites to post fake accounts. Secondly it would expose the BugMeNot database of accounts to exploitation.

Why don't you make site urls clickable?

It is better that BugMeNot.com doesn't show up in the referrer logs of the sites it provides accounts for.

Why are subdomains treated as separate sites?

Because subdomains can be separate sites.

How do I link to BugMeNot.com?

http://bugmenot.com/view/www.nytimes.com

How many sites do you have accounts for?

491598

I tried a login and it doesn't seem to work.

Please add a new one then.

I want to create some fake accounts but I need a valid email account.

Try these:

• mailinator
• 10minutemail
• guerrillamail
• meltmail
• filzmail

Are you going to steal my identity or rob my credit card?

No. Our policy forbids accounts to paid services from being posted. However, just like a discussion forum, if you happen to find one then email and it will be removed. You can also request an entire site to be blocked here. Privacy is not considered a commodity.

Are you going to bankrupt my paid content service?

See above. If you are losing sleep over this then report the site and it will be added to the "automatically blocked" list.

I filled in the submission form (not knowing what it was) with an account I don't want to share. What do I do now?

The first thing you want to do is go to the site the account was for, login and then change your password. Failing this you can send an email to the address below stating the username and site. Also- if you're punching your account details into systems you do not understand then you should probably go read this.

If I login to a site using a bugmenot account is it necessary to sign out again so others can use it?

No, due to the way the web works you would very rarely need to sign out for others to use the same account.

Did you create the extensions?

No, we have no control over the various browser extensions for bugmenot. Please contact the author of the particular extension.

How do I contact the people running this show?

Use this form