Cousins, Once again, this is a mass mailing to all 21 of my lists. I apologize for this, but I need to reach everyone as quickly as possible. The subject of Family Discovery is getting rather old, I know. However, there are a lot of newbies among us now who won't realize that if they receive a message from Family Discovery that they'll be dealing with people who will rip them off. To our newbies ~ Family Discovery is just what I said in the last sentence... rip-offs. This is becoming an old subject among those of us who have been doing online genealogy for a while, but you need to be made aware... Family Discovery links their pages to Rootsweb sites and archive pages, GenWeb sites, and privately owned sites ... sites on which all the information is already FREE! They are doing this without permission and are currently under investigation. Please, heed the warning. A new ad from them is going around telling you that if you'll join by Friday, 2 Feb, you'll pay "a one time access fee of ONLY $49.00 with absolutely nothing to pay EVER again..." While I'm at it, I'd better warn you of their newest, sister site... GenSeeker, in case another message is floating around that I'm not aware of yet. Though I haven't heard any more about it from anyone (yet), it's still a site owned by the same person(s) and building itself under the same premise as Family Discovery. I've been to their newest site and seen what they're up to. Instead of the "special rate" you're charged $20 more. However, when clicking on their "freesearch link," the unwary customer is taken to the familydiscovery.com site. GenSeeker describes itself as "the most comprehensive easy to use collection of online records ever compiled." Of course it is, if they link to every free website they can find! Save your money and do the search yourself! You DO NOT need to pay for a service that is already free if you know where to look. If you need assistance, send a message to the list and state in the top line of your message that you're a newbie needing help; you'll probably get more than you can handle! :) Gene Olson has an Anti-FamilyDiscovery.com update list from his website. He has been working to close down both sites and is still on their trail. You newbies to online genealogy would be wise to go to his site and read up on this company so you won't be ripped off. Click on the following link and you'll be taken directly to his site: <http://www.compuright.net/familydiscovery>. Gene's new email address is <gene_olson@bigfoot.com>. His toll-free number is 1-877-319-9699. I tried to access familydiscovery.com just a moment ago. It seems the entire site is now password protected. Hmmm... I wonder why... I hope this finds you all having a FANTASTIC Friday! :) Colleen