LJ is ending the Basic account option
Basic Account is an option available to accounts which were created before March 12, 2008. No account created after this date can be turned into a Basic Account. Basic Accounts will not have any advertising displayed on their accounts, but will have fewer benefits and features.
Source: FAQ 38
ETA: fix the date in my text.
ETA 2: Jason Shellen, VP of Product Development for LiveJournal" says it was to make the registration process "easier for new users to understand" To which I say, Apparently they think their users are STUPID. The new ones for needing it "easier" and the old ones for taking that crap.
Also, Brad says no one really asked him. And he's on the LJ Advisory Board -- that was the whole point of the advisory board!
ETA 3: Another advisory board member and "thought leader", Esther Dyson, says that no one talked to her either. And that the person who emailed her can quote her on that.
techno_goddess
BAHAHAHAHA!
I say this is the beginning of the end for LJ...no wait, it's the end of the end. Because now they won't have as many accounts. There won't be as many people signing up if they have to pay. Most LJ accounts are trolls, sockpuppets, and squatters anyway. Now that people will have to pay to open new accounts, they're going to start taking great sites like IJ a lot more seriously.
Hey, how did squeaky know that LJ was going to create the next great migration over here? He's been working like one of Santa's elves getting the servers and the code in shape! Tweak must have predicted it...
littlegirllover
But, uh, yeah, considering it is LJ, that doesn't exactly make him Nostrasqueakus.