30

I used to love Bugmenot...but then they started blocking more and more sites. Now I'd say a good 75% of the time I try to find logins on bugmenot, the site is blocked. Is there a service like bugmenot that doesn't block sites?

For example, all of these sites require registration to download files posted by users, and all of them are blocked from BugMeNot. dcemu.co.uk, ubuntuforums.org, club.cdfreaks.com

To be clear, this problem is because BugMeNot stops users from adding logins for them, not because of the individual sites themselves are blocking logins from bugmenot.

I know of things like mailinator, but the whole point of BugMeNot is so I don't have to go through the hassle of registering and setting up an account with fake details just to download that one useful piece of information from a site I never plan to visit again.

Improve this question
11
  • 5
    I'd love an alternative to Bugmenot... I used to use it all the time to get away from all the abolutely pointless registrations that every site now seemingly requires. These days it's near useless with lots of "Upvote to see pw" rubbish. – Mokubai Dec 5 '09 at 14:51
  • 3
    Ever tried mailinator mailinator.com/faq.jsp ? Fill out the form with an email address like davr1205@mailinator.com. Mailinator will create that email account automatically when the first email is sent to it. Just remember that all email accounts are accessible to the general public. I wouldn't use it if the service has a habit of sending passwords via email. – hyperslug Dec 6 '09 at 14:31
  • 6
    hyperslug: Yeah, but copying and pasting a login/pass is much quicker than typing in made up info, going to mailinator to get the verification link, clicking that link, and then logging in. – davr Dec 6 '09 at 17:19
  • 2
    musicfreak: The problem is not other sites blocking bugmenot. The problem is that bugmenot themselves are preventing users from adding logins for specific sites. Therefore if there's a bugmenot clone that doesn't have this dumb policy, it would not have the same problem. – davr Dec 9 '09 at 23:55
  • 4
    Peter: Some users upload useful files, and I want to download those files without having to make an account, but the forum requires an account to download. If I wanted to post I'd make an account. – davr Dec 10 '09 at 15:22
10

Here are some Bugmenot alternatives:

I made this answer into a Community Wiki so others could easily add other Bugmenot alternatives. Please include the website's TOS, if there is one.

Improve this answer
0
4

Is there a service like bugmenot that doesn't block sites?

No. There isn't. If there was, the same power-structure that influenced bugmenot would influence it, and it would go down the same or a similar path and start blocking sites or otherwise become less useful.

Improve this answer
4
  • 2
    come on...you're killing my hopes of finding someone willing to stand up to The Man! – davr Dec 11 '09 at 7:12
  • 3
    "Willing to stand up to the man" is easy to find... "Still standing up after the man has had his way with them" is quite another thing. In a semi-related vein, here's the latest back-n-forth between Google and Mozilla re: privacy: weblogs.mozillazine.org/asa/archives/2009/12/… – pbr Dec 11 '09 at 20:33
  • 3
    An alternative implementation, Firefox extension for example, could be made that used some sort of distributed model for the content. That way it would be designed to be resistant for "the man". But that opens up a whole new can of worms... – Ilari Kajaste Dec 14 '09 at 14:24
  • @IlariKajaste: Also, that might reduce usage of the accounts to spam, which just gets them banned? – endolith May 12 '14 at 16:37
2

I hate signing up to forums just to get access to attachments, or having to register just to read a news feed. The problem is that any system that is popular enough to have good coverage is also popular enough to get sued or have all their accounts deactivated quickly. Another approach is to try common usernames/passwords like this suggestion:

slashdot/slashdot is always worth a try - they do get just about everywhere.

Improve this answer
1
  • cypherpunk/cypherpunk (or plural) is also reasonably common. – a cat Mar 26 '14 at 13:50
1

Don't bother. Most sites that require a registration don't do any kind of checking on the info you provide. Use completely made-up names, addresses, phone numbers and emails, and your browser will likely remember what you've filled out one registration form with so you'll have less to type next time. If you really need to use a site that requires email validation, give them a Yahoo or Gmail account you've created solely for that purpose, so you can hit the validation link and forget about it.

If enough people pollute these sites' registration databases with useless information, maybe the data mining companies will stop buying that data, and the sites will stop bothering to collect it.

Here's a set of Personal Information you're free to use on any site you need to register for:

Name:     Flubbre Golightly
Street:   987 Madeup Lane
City:     Beverly Hills, CA
Zip:      90210
Email:    notarealaddress@anywhere.com

Or create your own. It's fun and easy!

Improve this answer
5
  • 5
    Yeah I could do that, but copying and pasting a login/pass from bugmenot is much quicker than typing in made up info, going to mailinator/yahoo/gmail to get the verification link, clicking that link, and then logging in. – davr Dec 6 '09 at 17:20
  • suit yourself. i only do it once per site (assuming cookies are enabled) and most sites that require verifications i don't bother with. – quack quixote Dec 6 '09 at 17:54
  • 3
    Sure, but I'm asking for a bugmenot alternative, and your answer is "do it the way everyone did before bugmenot, and the way everyone does, now that bugmenot sucks". So while it's useful in that it provides information, it doesn't answer my question. – davr Dec 7 '09 at 3:59
  • i didn't promise a good alternative, just an alternative. use it or don't. – quack quixote Dec 7 '09 at 4:38
  • -1 The whole point of bugmenot is to avoid the hassle of registering with a fake account (just to see one illustration on a forum that you're never going to use again, for instance). Suggesting that people make their own individual fake accounts misses the point. – endolith May 12 '14 at 16:34
-1

I usually use an e-mail address for just that purpose, simply because bugmenot started to fail on me, just like it's happening to you.

Other than that I don't bother registering with websites that put up a registration wall If I can get the same information elsewhere.

Improve this answer
1
  • 5
    Thanks for the comment, but this doesn't answer my question. Perhaps there is no answer, perhaps nobody has tried creating a clone of bugmenot yet. – davr Dec 10 '09 at 0:00
-3

There seems to be a new service called bypass.rd.to.

They have Firefox and Chrome extensions.

From their FAQ:

How do I block my website?

Sorry, we do not allow the blocking of websites from our system.

I think the amount of logins they have currently is quite limited, but maybe it will become more popular. It looks like a good BugMeNot replacement to me.

Hopefully they have established themselves somewhere with a human-friendly legal system where they can not be bothered with similar threats that made BugMeNot less useful (i.e. outside of the USA the very least).

Improve this answer
3
  • Nice find! It seems to be regularly updated too. – galacticninja Nov 22 '11 at 10:10
  • 1
    I made my answer to this question into a Community Wiki, so we could have one list of all Bugmenot alternatives. If you want, you could add the above website to that. Just edit my answer. – galacticninja Nov 22 '11 at 10:20
  • This is a redirect to facebook? Flagged. – endolith May 12 '14 at 16:38

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.