email address not acceptable

[fkv1]

When I try to register at lichess.org, I get the error message "This email address is not acceptable", although it is a normal and properly working email address. Apart from the fact that the email address should be accepted, the error message should be more verbose, i.e. it should explain why the email address is not accepted.

[ornicar]

What's the address domain? (What's after the @)

[fkv1]

volki.at

[ornicar]

This domain has no DNS A record (http://volki.at doesn't exist). How did you get that email address?

[fkv1]

I got it from my internet access provider which is also my webspace and email provider for volki.at. As far as I know, email (SMTP) does not need a DNS A record for the recipient's domain. It only needs a MX record, which the domain volki.at does have, and that has been sufficient for the past 12 years.

[ornicar]

You're right, but most email domains without an A record are disposable domains that people use for multiaccounting and cheating, so it's now forbidden. I do maintain a whitelist for exceptions.

[fkv1]

When I would like to create multiple accounts and cheat, I would use a freemailer like hotmail, gmx etc. A whitelist doesn't fetch the false positives, because most of those who get the error message certainly conclude that the server is full of bugs when not even registering works properly, and they will turn to other servers instead. Even those who are persistent and willing to contact you about the registration issue have a hard time finding out how. In order to post a message to the forum or a question to the Q&A section, one has to register first. That's a chicken-and-egg situation. I am lucky because I have an IT background so I knew what github is and I was already a registered user here (notably with the same email address that lichess rejected). Most people are not. They remain locked out and you'll never know.

[andersonaddo]

Something like "The domain for this email isn't a trusted one. Please try a different email account with a different domain." should be good enough. Maybe there could be a "learn more" link too for people who want to know why on a deeper level.

[fkv1]

I would still not understand why my domain is not trusted, as there's nothing wrong with it, and I would still be locked out, because I don't have any email address ouside that domain. I would need to create a fake email address at hotmail etc. that I would use only for registering at lichess and then forget about. As already mentioned, multiaccounters and cheaters can bypass your protection in the very same way, and they are significantly less inhibited to create fake email accounts.