FortuneCity

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FortuneCity was a webhosting service based in New York City. The service was founded in 1997 [1] by Richard Jones and Dan Metcalfe, two British entrepreneurs. It had one million users. [2]

It collaborated with Warner Brothers to create a community called AcmeCity, which allowed users to create a web site using WB characters, logos, etc. without infringing on copyright. [3]

When FortuneCity first came online, it offered a free web hosting account with 6 MB of disk space. Later, they increased the space to 10 MB, 20 MB and then 100 MB. However, since upgrading to 10 0MB, the original virtual community design has been removed; the "virtual map" of each district is gone, the division of district is also gone, but the community, mayor and district ministers remain.

The company went public in March 1998. It was oversubscribed 37 times after its initial offering. [4] FortuneCity receives its revenue mostly from advertisements. [5] [6]

FortuneCity began as a free web hosting service, but they have announced that after April 30, 2012, they would no longer be providing free web space, citing increasing costs as the reason. [7] At this point, it was also rebranded as Dotster. [8]

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References

  1. LoPresti, Michael (2007-11-01). "A Case of Storage Space". EContent . Information Today, Inc. Archived from the original on 2012-10-22. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
  2. Stites, Janet (1999-01-25). "PROSPECTUS; An alliance with Warner Brothers Online has an upstart Web development company feeling like the Road Runner". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 2015-05-27. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
  3. Time Warner. "Warner Bros. Online and Fortunecity Join Forces To Create Ultimate Home Page Community for Entertainment Fans; ACMEcity Joint Venture Represents First Branded Entertainment Community in Internet History" (Press release).
  4. Peterson, Thane (1999-11-02). "Why FortuneCity Will Seek Its Fortune on Nasdaq". BusinessWeek . Archived from the original on 2012-10-23. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
  5. Keegan, Victor (2000-12-21). "How to make a Fortune on the quiet". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 2022-06-11. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
  6. "How to Choose the Perfect Domain Name". Hosting Manual. 21 July 2021. Retrieved 2013-08-20.
  7. "Dear FortuneCity Customers". FortuneCity. March 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-03-23. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
  8. "Welcome Fortune City Customers". Dotster. January 2013. Retrieved 2018-06-22.