I don't know the entire story, but to help preserve bandwith, Luke decided some time in 2006 to not allow new members to be able to send private messages. They relatively carry quite a burden on the site's bandwith, I believe, and I think that a lot of people were using them very casually.
Members who joined on/after June 2006 don't have PM sending abilities. Usually around the holiday season, Luke will offer a Christmas Gift of PM-sending to members who want it. You can probably e-mail Luke too to ask for PM abilities.
albert
WIST #60:
AwallaceUNC: Would you prefer Substi-Blu-tiary Locomotion?
WIST #61:
TheSequelOfDisney: Damn, did Lin-Manuel Miranda go and murder all your families?
I have the same problem: I cannot reply to private messages, though I was able to read them. WAS, because just today I've discovered I cannot read private messages anymore either. I would like to contact Luke the administrator if he will allow me to read and reply to PM's but I Just don't know how. If I go to Members, Luke , all info I get for contacting Luke is the url address of the dvddizzy site. Well, I don't see any e-mail link there for contacting the administrator. Please Luke: ARE YOU READING THIS? Can you answer me?