RootsWeb Message Boards controlled by Ancestry.com are FREE to any user. About a year ago, Ancestry.com bought RootsWeb with the understanding that RootsWeb data would remain FREE to all users. Since Ancestry.com and RootsWeb.com had similar message boards, Ancestry.com has decided to merge the two system regarding the message boards. These merged message boards will remain FREE to all users; however, to prevent internet spiders from collecting email addresses for spam purposes and maintain current users email addresses, Ancestry.com requires a username and password to access these boards. Having an Ancestry.com username and password does not mean that other Ancestry.com databases requiring a fee can be accessed. To the contrary... accessing their fee based databases requires an annual paid subscription for specific services (databases). However, the same username and password can be used to access the RootsWeb Message Boards and Ancestry's subscribed services requiring an annual fee. Happy Huntin' Jim Young