Netscape WebMail Customers Frustrated

Roughly half a million users of the Netscape WebMail service will be forced to change their email accounts, due to a critical software upgrade. Some bugs in the new software have blocked certain customers from access entirely.

Netscape's plan of combining email usernames of Netscape Netcenter, CompuServe and America Online commenced late last week. The transfer caused overlaps in many email addresses, which could only be resolved by changing the identities. Many WebMail customers are unhappy with the result, as they were promised the same address for life.

Out of the 6 million WebMail customers, 480,000 are required to change their address. Account holder Alison Wojtas stated, "It's frustrating because this means that I have to contact everyone who has my email address and give them the new one..."

New features to be implemented in the update include: a faster mail system, spam protection and integration of email with Netscape's instant messenger.