“A Linux user is taking credit for restoring service to
Microsoft’s Hotmail free email service, saying he paid a delinquent
domain name registration fee that blocked access to some users over
much of the Christmas weekend.“
“Michael Chaney, a Linux consultant from Nashville, Tenn., said
he paid the bill by credit card through the online payment service
of domain name registrar Network Solutions after he was denied
access to his Hotmail account on Christmas Eve….”
“The lapse…was apparently caused when Microsoft’s registration
for the Passport.com domain name expired sometime Dec. 24, Chaney
said. The Passport.com site verifies user identification and
passwords for access to Hotmail and about 25 other services,
according to Chaney.”