Yahoo announced today that it is freeing up Yahoo IDs (and email addresses) that have been inactive for at least a year, and resetting them. What this means is that they are creating a new land rush for Yahoo email addresses as if it were the 90s. Users will be able to get simple addresses like [email protected] instead of [email protected].

“Over the last few months, we’ve made exciting changes to some of your favorite Yahoo! products, like Flickr, Mail, Weather, the Homepage and Search,” said Jay Rossiter, SVP, Platforms, on the company blog. “Today, I’m excited to share with you our next big push: we want to give our loyal users and new folks the opportunity to sign up for the Yahoo! ID they’ve always wanted.”

“A Yahoo! ID is not only your email address, it also gives you access to content tailored to your interests – like sports scores for your favorite teams, weather in your hometown, and news that matters to you,” he says.

Starting in mid-July, anyone can “have a shot” at obtaining the Yahoo email address and ID they’ve always wanted. In mid-August, those who tried to get one will be able to find out if they got what they wanted.

If you want to keep the one you have, even though it’s been over a year since you logged in, you simply need to log in before July 15th.

Some users that have been using Yahoo Mail within the past year may wish to give their addresses away, as the Yahoo Mail redesign has been discouraging to some users.