Free AIM Account Registration Broken?


Abstract:
Come on, AOL!

Body:
Today someone asked me if I knew about any problems registering for an AIM screen name. He said that he has been trying for a couple months, and keeps getting the following error:

https://my.screenname.aol.com
The service you are trying to reach is temporarily unavailable - please try your request again. - 20814

I've gone through the sign-up process several times before without a problem, and created a working screen name as recently as this semester. I figured that he must be doing something wrong, and went to the registration page with Safari. I entered valid data, and when I hit submit, I got the same error. I then switched to Firefox 1.5, which yielded the same message. To make sure that it wasn't rejecting me based on my operating system, I tried it on Bill's computer with Internet Explorer on Windows XP. Same error.

All attempts were made with Verizon DSL as the ISP. I'll try again at home where we have Comcast, but that won't be until Wednesday at the earliest. If anyone out there can confirm or deny having the same problem with registration, please send me an email and let me know your configuration. Any other advice/workarounds would be helpful as well.

Update: Thanks to Steve who figured out that entering a birth date that makes the registrant younger than 13 will cause the error. Simply make sure that the date of birth is at least 13 years ago, and you should be all set. Email me if this doesn't work.

Second Update: I've had a few emails from people who have told me that they still get the error even with a valid birth date. If anyone can find another solution to this error, please email me: wysz@mac.com.

Posted: Monday - December 19, 2005 at 02:44 PM          

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