Yahoo! to reset inactive email addresses, make them available again

SUNNYVALE, Calif., June 20 (UPI) -- U.S. web giant Yahoo! says users hoping for a simple @yahoo email address featuring their names will get another chance at snagging them in the coming months.

Someone wanting a short, sweet and memorable email address like [email protected] instead of [email protected] will get a chance at it in mid-July, Yahoo! reported in a blog posting Thursday.

Yahoo! said it is making this possible by freeing up IDs that have been inactive for at least 12 months, resetting them and making them available.

Beginning July 15 anyone can have a shot at scoring the Yahoo! ID they want, the release said, and in mid-August users who staked a claim on certain IDs can sign into Yahoo! to discover which one they got.

Users who have not signed into the service in 12 months but want to keep their Yahoo! email tags simply need to log on once before July 15, Yahoo said.