[asterisk-users] FWD $30 membership-fee

[Dave Platt]

> I just received an email notice from FWD about $30 membership fee.
> My question: Is the email genuine? Did anybody else receive it?
> 
> I'm just trying to be sure that it is real and not a scam.
> The (FWD) does not do anything to authenticate such emails (implementing GPG/PGP signature etc.)
> 
> If the email is genuine, I hope they will improve their service; as of now their IAX server is not working.

I received the same email.  It was sent to a tagged email address that
I had used only when signing up for FWD last month, and never gave to
anyone else.

It seems to have been sent out through a mass-mailing service (MagnetMail)...
they feel slightly on the "this might possibly be an outfit whose
service could be used for spamming" side of things but are not overtly
crooked or bogus as far as I can tell.

My guess is that the email is probably legitimate.  Although there's
nothing new on the FWD website to confirm that free accounts are
going away (as the email implies), the statements in the email seem
consistent with the info on the FWD website about a "re-launch" and
"spin-off".

Any service such as FWD is going to need a source of revenue in order
to keep their servers running.  I don't think FWD ever got around
to launching an FWD-based "dial out onto the PSTN" service with
a per-minute charge from which they could earn revenue... and the
VOIP market for such things seems to be extremely competitive and
perhaps cut-throat.  Since FWD seems to be spinning off and will need
independent revenue, they're likely to have to do *something* to keep
the lights on!

The interesting thing will be to see if people find it worthwhile
to pay $30/year, primarily for a SIP registration service that doesn't
provide either outdial-to-PSTN or indial-from-PSTN.  If not, FWD might
cease to exist.

If the email is legit, I do think that FWD really ought to update their
web site Real Soon Now, to reflect that the services now available
"for free" will no longer be free.