From the Freepages Mailing List:
On December 23, the following message appeared on the Rootsweb Blog -
https://blogs.ancestry.com/…/12/23/rootsweb-security-update/
... which means that you cannot access any Rootsweb pages, nor connect by FTP to any of your Rootsweb community sites. Indications are that this shutdown could be for some time as Ancestry attempt to make the Rootsweb sites secure. Ultimately, an ability to change passwords plus two factor ID may form part of the solution.
The Rootsweb Mailing Lists are still active.