Dear Sumter List Members, E-mails about this have been going hot and heavy on the USGenWeb-All- List (list for volunteers with the USGenWeb Project.) What appears to have happened is that someone, (Jerry Dill a CPA in Idaho) who had been donating web space, with the server address of USGenWeb.com secretly went and filed incorporation papers for the company USGenWeb.com. He is making an attempt to make money off of the name recognition of USGenWeb. All USGenWeb web masters have abandoned the USGenWeb.com server. The official address for USGenWeb is http://www.usgenweb.org or http://www.usgenweb.net There will be a disclaimer on those main pages that USGenWeb.com is in no way connected with the USGenWeb Project. The USGenWeb Project is a non-profit, run by volunteers movement on the internet as stated on the 3 county pages that I maintain. My county pages are on Rootsweb and this listserve is donated by Rootsweb. There were some mirror sites of some of the main USGenWeb pages on Jerry Dill's server. Basically that's all that was on the .com server. Rootsweb is the backbone of the network of websites in the project. The folks at Rootsweb donate server space for the project. They operate by way of donations or for folks signing up for their services. Fundraisers go on at times for Rootsweb. You can link to Rootsweb at anytime and see what their services are. If you happen to check the USGenWeb.com you will find links for what Jerry Dills is selling. (He did have advertisements on the page, but has hidden them. Last time that I looked (yesterday) you could only see them in his source code. He lurks on the USGenWeb list and was privy to the messages going out about what his pages had etc. and what he was doing.) Everyone within the project is shocked and dismayed by Jerry Dill's actions. He operates something called, Rootsquest. That's all well and good, free enterprise and all that, but he had no right to the name USGenWeb.com. Just remember, we are the USGenWeb Project. It's .net or .org. The project has withdrawn all use of the .com server. Don't worry, the project continues as always. You just need to know about the .com thing. As I said, Rootsweb is our backbone and they have registered the USGenweb.net and .org address as USGenWeb not like Jerry Dill did with the .com, putting his name on in and INC. as part of it too. He made a GREAT error in judgement. Cindy P.S. I have just finished creating the Palmetto State Roots Home Page Award. I have a couple of folks in mind for the award already for March. If any of you has an idea of other home pages deserving of recognition, go to my Palmetto State Roots site and link to the nominate your favorite S.C. home page spot. Only S.C. genealogy homepages are eligible. The March awards go to John Simons (I haven't even let him know yet, but hey John, you are on this list and I have to go and cook supper now. Thanks for the Bible links.) and Shelby Pittman who does the home page for the Catawba Wateree Genealogy Society. (Kershaw/Lancaster Counties.)