akadruid writes "As of today, UK Gmail users are seeing 'Google Mail' at the top of their Gmail accounts, and Google is warning they may lose their '@gmail.com' addresses in the future. All new signups from the UK will be assigned '@googlemail.com' addresses, and existing accounts will be able to use either domain for now. Gmail's help pages explain this is related to their ongoing dispute regarding the Gmail trademark."Ads_xl=0;Ads_yl=0;Ads_xp='';Ads_yp='';Ads_xp1='';Ads_yp1='';Ads_par='';Ads_cnturl='';Ads_prf='page=article';Ads_channels='RON_P6_IMU';Ads_wrd='google';Ads_kid=0;Ads_bid=0;Ads_sec=0; Gmail Becomes Google Mail in the UK Log in/Create an Account | Top | 324 comments | Search Discussion Display Options Threshold: -1: 324 comments 0: 318 comments 1: 252 comments 2: 158 comments 3: 51 comments 4: 25 comments 5: 15 comments Flat Nested No Comments Threaded Oldest First Newest First Highest Scores First Oldest First (Ignore Threads) Newest First (Ignore Threads) The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way. FAQ-ing confusing (Score:5, Funny) by eyeoftheidol (651095) <steveharrisonNO@SPAMicliverpool.net> on Wednesday October 19, @08:43AM (#13825551) Anyone else confused by the FAQ? Q4 and Q5 are the same ("What if I'm a UK user who already has a Gmail address?") but the answer is different! Am I missing something? .... [ Reply to ThisRe:FAQ-ing confusing by mysticwhiskey (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @08:46AM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:FAQ-ing confusing by Kazzahdrane (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @08:49AMRe:FAQ-ing confusing by trash eighty (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @08:52AM No more changing your email (Score:4, Insightful) by alexo (9335) on Wednesday October 19, @09:01AM (#13825690) (Last Journal: Wednesday December 01, @11:15PM) > I'd hate to have to go to all the websites I visit and change my stored address AGAIN...> when this time I wouldn't be getting anything new for all the botherGiven the rock bottom prices of domain names [yahoo.com] nowadays, you should never have to change your email address again. [ Reply to This | ParentRe:No more changing your email by Kazzahdrane (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @09:12AMRe:No more changing your email by dema (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @09:22AMRe:No more changing your email by Kazzahdrane (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @09:28AMRe:No more changing your email by AlecC (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @10:27AMRe:No more changing your email by Armour Hotdog (Score:3) Wednesday October 19, @09:56AMRe:No more changing your email by markb (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @05:39PMRe:No more changing your email by micampe (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @09:46AMRe:No more changing your email by bedroll (Score:3) Wednesday October 19, @10:37AMRe:No more changing your email by markb (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @05:45PMRe:No more changing your email by egriebel (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @09:24AMRe:No more changing your email by MyTwoCentsWorth (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @10:09AMRe:No more changing your email by toleraen (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @10:11AMRe:No more changing your email by Trejkaz (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @08:54PMRe:No more changing your email by Tinidril (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @10:15AMno guarantee by markb (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @05:33PMRe:FAQ-ing confusing by SteveAyre (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @09:52AMRe:FAQ-ing confusing by The Cydonian (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @08:54AMRe:FAQ-ing confusing by Kazzahdrane (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @08:57AM Re:FAQ-ing confusing (Score:5, Informative) by bedroll (806612) on Wednesday October 19, @09:01AM (#13825693) (Last Journal: Thursday September 29, @07:19PM) Q4: What if I'm a UK user who already has a Gmail address? Will that address ever change? Unfortunately, we don't know. We would love to say that your address will always remain the same. But the trademark issue is still unsettled, and unfortunately, we cannot predict what the other party or the courts might do here. You can always use your same username with an @googlemail.com address to avoid this issue later on. But trust that we will do the best we can to make sure your email address won't ever have to change. Translation: They cannot guarantee that your address won't change if you have an existing account and are allowed to continue using the gmail.com domain. What if I'm a UK user who already has a Gmail address? Will I also need to change that address? No, this change doesn't affect existing Gmail addresses. For now, our plan is only to issue @googlemail.com addresses to new users. Trust that we will do the best we can to offer all our users a reliable and consistent email experience. Translation: You don't need to change your address right now if you have an existing account that is allowed to use the gmail.com domain. New accounts will not be issued gmail.com email addresses, in favor of googlemail.com.They are very close, but there's just enough difference to make them both valuable questions and answers. [ Reply to This | ParentRe:FAQ-ing confusing by bedroll (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @09:12AM1 reply beneath your current threshold. I work internationally (Score:4, Interesting) by danormsby (529805) on Wednesday October 19, @08:44AM (#13825553) (http://www.chem.leeds.ac.uk/boronweb/ormsby/) So I can pretend I'm not from the UK to avoid the issue? Sure I registered in the UK but I work all over the world. I'm working in Sweden this week. If I leave a proxy running out here and connect through that will I keep my gmail address?I didn't know Google even kept a geographical address for my gmail account. Doesn't appear when I search for it! [ Reply to ThisRe:I work internationally by FinestLittleSpace (Score:3) Wednesday October 19, @08:46AMRe:I work internationally by Threni (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @08:51AMRe:I work internationally by FinestLittleSpace (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @08:56AMRe:I work internationally by jabuzz (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @02:57PMRe:I work internationally by FinestLittleSpace (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @03:06PM Re:I work internationally (Score:4, Interesting) by geoffspear (692508) <geoffspear AT gmail DOT com> on Wednesday October 19, @09:11AM (#13825760) (http://www.geoffreyspear.com/blog/) Unless a UK court issues a decision against Google that also requires everyone else in the world to switch from the current DNS system to one that will easily allow Google to own the "gmail.com" domain everywhere except the UK and someone else to use it inside the UK, then yes, having them stop using the domain in the UK will probably mean they stop using it everywhere.I imagine the change now in the UK has a lot more to do with their right to market their service in the UK as "Gmail", rather than any anticipated future technical problems with using "gmail" in their URL.On the other hand, it's been quite some time since they started redirecting any web traffic from gmail.com to mail.google.com, so it is possible they're expecting to lose the domain altogether. But if so, it seems foolish to keep giving non-UK users new gmail.com addresses. [ Reply to This | ParentRe:I work internationally by Threni (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @09:31AMRe:I work internationally by fabs64 (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @09:39AMRe:I work internationally by geoffspear (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @09:53AMRe:I work internationally by Threni (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @11:02AMRe:I work internationally by itsme1234 (Score:3) Wednesday October 19, @10:38AMRe:I work internationally by manojar (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @09:13AM Double-edged sword (Score:5, Interesting) by pedestrian crossing (802349) on Wednesday October 19, @10:07AM (#13826197) (http://members.gaponline.de/pedxing) When I signed up for Hotmail, I entered my country as 'Pakistan', since I didn't think it was Microsoft's business what country I'm from/in. Also, I don't live in the country I'm from, so it's pretty much meaningless anyway.But lo and behold, when Hotmail upped their storage to 250MB, my account stayed at 2.5MB (later upped to 25MB). Why? Because I'm not in the USA. Do you think changing my profile to USA upped the limit? Hint - the answer is not yes. Yes, I know Hotmail != Gmail, but the point is that initial profile choices can have unintended consequences... [ Reply to This | ParentRe:Double-edged sword by Pete (big-pete) (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @10:51AMRe:Double-edged sword by FRiC (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @11:53AMAt least you didn't put in a wrong age... by arhar (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @12:43PM2 replies beneath your current threshold.Re:I work internationally by tehshen (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @11:02AM Article to the original lawsuit (Score:3, Informative) by Augusto (12068) on Wednesday October 19, @08:44AM (#13825554) (http://slashdot.org/) http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/legal/0,39020651, 39218121,00.htm [zdnet.co.uk]It seems they already did this for Germany too, didn't know that. [ Reply to ThisRe:Article to the original lawsuit by k3s (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @10:17AMRe:Article to the original lawsuit by Kadin2048 (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @10:33AM1 reply beneath your current threshold. Quick! (Score:3, Funny) by semaj (172655) on Wednesday October 19, @08:45AM (#13825558) (Last Journal: Monday March 10, @08:05AM) Someone from the US login to my account so they don't think I'm in the UK!Username: semajPassword: onlyjoking Seriously: I wonder what criteria they'll use to decide if someone is "in" the UK or not? [ Reply to ThisRe:Quick! by Kawahee (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @08:50AMRe:Quick! by lubricated (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @02:25PMRe:Quick! by Kawahee (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @04:32PMGoogle search redirects by astralbat (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @04:43PMDefinition of "in?" by portscan (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @09:18AMRe:Quick! by Xarius (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @09:39AMRe:Quick! by Donniedarkness (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @09:59AMRe:Quick! by Mantees de Tara (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @10:46AMThe same criteria they use elsewhere. by Inoshiro (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @11:27AM2 replies beneath your current threshold. It's nice to see this (Score:4, Insightful) by Kawahee (901497) on Wednesday October 19, @08:45AM (#13825568) (http://ensim.bkshosting.com/~admin83/lanlocked/) As much as I think people are going to hate it and find it inconvenient, it's nice to see Google handling this without any backstabbing and lawyers and the like. Unlike Microsoft which is going to muscle the "Windows Vista" name through IPO despite the fact that "Vista Windows" and "Vista Blinds" already have a very similiar name registered, and their office is just down the adjoining road from 1 Microsoft Way. [ Reply to ThisNot all lawyers are backstabbing... by quibbler (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @09:30AMRe:Not all lawyers are backstabbing... by natedubbya (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @10:31AMRe:Not all lawyers are backstabbing... by quibbler (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @12:00PMRe:Not all lawyers are backstabbing... by kcornia (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @11:45AMRe:Not all lawyers are backstabbing... by quibbler (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @12:14PMRe:Not all lawyers are backstabbing... by Edzor (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @04:20PMRe:Not all lawyers are backstabbing... by quibbler (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @11:49AMRe:Not all lawyers are backstabbing... by quibbler (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @03:25PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:It's nice to see this by darkmeridian (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @09:46AMRe:It's nice to see this by RandoX (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @11:00AMRe:It's nice to see this by Tim C (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @10:05AMRe:It's nice to see this by worf_mo (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @10:31AMRe:It's nice to see this by pclminion (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @11:47AMCan backstabbing got any worse? by MikePlacid (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @06:11PMRe:It's nice to see this by Yakman (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @07:56PM1 reply beneath your current threshold. Hmmm... (Score:5, Funny) by jolyonr (560227) on Wednesday October 19, @08:45AM (#13825570) (http://www.mways.co.uk/) I hear they wanted 25 million GBP (over $40 million) for the gmail name in the UK. Did they trademark 'BlackMail' too? Jolyon [ Reply to ThisRe:Hmmm... by Astatine210 (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @09:02AMRe:Hmmm... by sukotto (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @11:36AM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:Hmmm... by EnsilZah (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @09:05AMRe:Hmmm... by Anonymous Brave Guy (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @10:29AMRe:Hmmm... by MacGod (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @12:45PM Gmail Notifier got too much? (Score:2, Interesting) by Spitfire15 (896735) on Wednesday October 19, @08:45AM (#13825571) I just went onto Firefox this morning and found out, that it needed an update. I installed it, and just got me loads of mail messages, which were already read. Ouch! I said. So I found out that UK users have a different address than their usual one. [ Reply to ThisRe:Gmail Notifier got too much? by Jonny_eh (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @10:01AM So much for (Score:5, Funny) by w.p.richardson (218394) on Wednesday October 19, @08:46AM (#13825572) (http://www.worldwidewillie.com/) "Archive, don't delete"... Kind of a moot point when you lose the email address. [ Reply to ThisRe:So much for by Urusai (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @10:59AM Do no evil, and ignore the courts (Score:2, Interesting) by Umuri (897961) on Wednesday October 19, @08:46AM (#13825574) Google obviously thinks they are going to win this case or else wouldn't they want to extend googlemail to all sections of the globe? I mean aren't trademarks protected internationally, so someone couldn't just make mickey mouse entertainment somewhere in china?All in all i think it's nothing to worry about, the UK's court systems are a TAD more sane when dealing with common sense issues.... [ Reply to ThisRe:Do no evil, and ignore the courts by FinestLittleSpace (Score:3) Wednesday October 19, @08:48AM Re:Do no evil, and ignore the courts (Score:5, Interesting) by Motherfucking Shit (636021) on Wednesday October 19, @08:50AM (#13825614) (http://openproxies.com/ | Last Journal: Saturday June 18, @02:47AM) Google obviously thinks they are going to win this case or else wouldn't they want to extend googlemail to all sections of the globe?They've already done so. Email sent to username@googlemail.com will be delivered to username@gmail.com, regardless of where the account owner lives. If you have an existing GMail account, try sending yourself an email at username@googlemail.com. You'll get the message.Anyone who's still unconvinced that this is fully transparent,dig mx gmail.comdig mx googlemail.com [ Reply to This | ParentRe:Do no evil, and ignore the courts by geminidomino (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @09:09AM Re:Do no evil, and ignore the courts (Score:5, Funny) by tehshen (794722) <tehshen@gmail.com> on Wednesday October 19, @11:06AM (#13826739) If you have an existing GMail account, try sending yourself an email at username@googlemail.com. You'll get the message.Keep quiet about it, I'm trying to get people to buy all the new special GoogleMail invites I have [ Reply to This | Parent1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:Do no evil, and ignore the courts by FinestLittleSpace (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @08:54AM1 reply beneath your current threshold. gmail - googlemail gateway? (Score:3, Interesting) by Dan East (318230) on Wednesday October 19, @08:47AM (#13825588) (http://dexplor.com/) Couldn't they keep the gmail.com addresses, and simply require the users to access them via googlemail.com? So all the UK user would see is someone@googlemail.com, although anyone could still email them them as someone@gmail.com.If so this isn't nearly as big an issue at it would seem.Dan East [ Reply to ThisRe:gmail - googlemail gateway? by The Cydonian (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @08:58AMIt's a f*cking huge issue if gmail goes away by Colin Smith (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @10:12AMRe:It's a f*cking huge issue if gmail goes away by Tet (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @10:44AMRe:gmail - googlemail gateway? by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @12:24PM2 replies beneath your current threshold. What are they doing with the trademark? (Score:2, Interesting) by ModernGeek (601932) on Wednesday October 19, @08:48AM (#13825589) (http://www.moderngeek.com/) What I want to know is what the other party is doing with their trademark. If they built an email service, and had millions of people relying on it, I'd understand, but if the trademark owner isn't doing anything with the name, I'd say give it to google. I hope the court takes into consideration the confusion this will bring to all these people with email addresses, and takes a look at the few, if any people who are currently confused because of the original trademark holder. [ Reply to ThisRe:What are they doing with the trademark? by Quaryon (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @09:03AM Other company has had an email service since 2002 (Score:5, Informative) by grandmofftarkin (49366) * <3b16-ihd3@xemaps.com> on Wednesday October 19, @09:05AM (#13825716) They are using it for an email service [theregister.co.uk] already and have done since 2002. They don't have millions of users but I don't think that should matter as long as they do (and did) provide a viable email service of the same name. [ Reply to This | ParentRe:Other company has had an email service since 20 by SimilarityEngine (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @09:26AMRe:Other company has had an email service since 20 by Peyna (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @09:55AMRe:Other company has had an email service since 20 by SimilarityEngine (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @10:04AMRe:Other company has had an email service since 20 by aaronl (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @10:30AMRe:Other company has had an email service since 20 by 1u3hr (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @10:36AMRe:Other company has had an email service since 20 by Peyna (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @10:44AMRe:Other company has had an email service since 20 by 1u3hr (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @01:42PMRe:Other company has had an email service since 20 by Peyna (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @02:53PMRe:Other company has had an email service since 20 by 1u3hr (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @03:10PMRe:Other company has had an email service since 20 by Thnurg (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @09:52AMRe:What are they doing with the trademark? by pclminion (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @11:56AMRe:What are they doing with the trademark? by ngoy (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @03:09PM Abbreviation (Score:3, Insightful) by notthe9 (800486) on Wednesday October 19, @08:48AM (#13825590) I really don't see why the gmail.com URL cannot just be an abbreviation of the name of the service: Google Mail. If this company wanted gmail.com, they should have bought it. They did not, leaving it up to any kind of service to legally use it with their own, non-infringing service. [ Reply to ThisRe:Abbreviation by Comboman (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @09:29AMRe:Abbreviation by prattle (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @10:33AMRe:Abbreviation by 1u3hr (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @10:40AMRe:Abbreviation by Comboman (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @12:25PMRe:Abbreviation by 1u3hr (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @01:38PMRe:Abbreviation by notthe9 (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @04:03PM1 reply beneath your current threshold. Is Google String in the pipeline??? (Score:4, Funny) by jkrise (535370) on Wednesday October 19, @08:48AM (#13825594) (Last Journal: Monday August 22, @12:02PM) Time to trademark G-string...- [ Reply to ThisRe:Is Google String in the pipeline??? by hotdiggitydawg (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @09:15AMRe:Is Google String in the pipeline??? by Bwian_of_Nazareth (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @10:42AMRe:Is Google String in the pipeline??? by Geoffreyerffoeg (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @05:51PMRe:Is Google String in the pipeline??? by jabberwocky_rt (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @09:29AM1 reply beneath your current threshold. links and background info (Score:5, Informative) by cyclomedia (882859) on Wednesday October 19, @08:49AM (#13825600) (Last Journal: Wednesday September 21, @07:16AM) quick google search (heh) turned up this:http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3 394361 [internetnews.com]suggesting that a bunch of people attempted to register gmail as a trademark at the same time back in march/april 2004, including google who were a bit slow off the bat. this applies in the US and i assume it's been resolved, anybody?as for the uk this guardian articlehttp://technology.guardian.co.uk/online/news/0,125 97,1568223,00.html?gusrc=rss [guardian.co.uk]suggests that the company registered it waaaay back in 2002, therefore not qualifying for bandwaggoning and actually probably having a legit claim. [ Reply to ThisRe:links and background info by gunpowda (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @09:18AMRe:links and background info by smoker2 (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @12:31PM No problem at all (for now) (Score:4, Informative) by xtracto (837672) on Wednesday October 19, @08:49AM (#13825603) (Last Journal: Wednesday October 05, @03:48PM) I read the article from BBC news [bbc.co.uk] before this morning. It seems they have lost against IIIR, who wanted an "exorbitant quantity of money" for the name.And so, this change is the second one (after they changed the name in Germany). It seems this company (IIIR) thought of a "great" plan to make money uh?Anyway, from the article and Gmail site, current users do not have anything to fear, and of course you can always change your country location when you sign up and get an actual gmail account.On a side note, I guess 90% of pepople on slashdot already knew that, as they certainly have gmail... [ Reply to ThisRe:No problem at all (for now) by shamus (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @11:19AMSpeaking of Germany... by LeonGeeste (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @12:18PM email through webmail companies (Score:1) by brechmos (679454) on Wednesday October 19, @08:49AM (#13825605) It has always made me nervous having an email address which I can not control. Gmail is great, by far the best I have seen out there, and I do use it, but my main email address is through a domain I own. Hopefully, that way there is less chance of this type of thing happening.The other thing that never made much sense to me was the fact that of the millions (or more) of people using email, why restrict it to just <somebody>@gmail.com. There have been many calls for gmail to allow MX records pointing at them so that I can do <me>@<mydomain>.<tld> (which I do think would be great) and it would allow for more people to use the Gmail interface.Just my thoughts. [ Reply to ThisRe:email through webmail companies by xtracto (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @08:55AMRe:email through webmail companies by FashionNugget (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @09:45AMRe:email through webmail companies by SillyNickName4me (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @10:11AMRe:email through webmail companies by magefile (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @11:19AMRe:email through webmail companies by SillyNickName4me (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @11:31AMRe:email through webmail companies by brechmos (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @10:07AM1 reply beneath your current threshold. Ouch ... (Score:1) by notanotheridiot (828950) on Wednesday October 19, @08:52AM (#13825625) Oh well, i for one will be checking out the competition. Its a pity - I use loads of google services, maybe yahoo will get my click from now. [ Reply to ThisRe:Ouch ... by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @09:22AM branded addresses (Score:2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 19, @08:53AM (#13825638) If google would offer a branded email address service, they could stand to make a lot of money. I.E., I would like to see them offer email service for mycompanyurl.com. MX records would have to point to google servers, addresses get masqueraded when people send. Presto, I no longer have to maintain any email infrastructure.Of course, companies with confidentiality/privacy concerns might be loath to adopt this; but for others, it could be great. [ Reply to ThisRe:branded addresses by fabs64 (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @09:47AMRe:branded addresses by bastardsquadmuzz (Score:2) Wednesday October 19, @10:20AMRe:branded addresses by bastardsquadmuzz (Score:1) Wednesday October 19, @04:45PM1 reply beneath your current threshold. Thankfully... (Score:3, Informative)