Microsoft Fires New Antispam Artillery

The Redmond, Wash., company's announcement reflects how controlling unsolicited commercial e-mail is becoming a competitive advantage for online service providers like MSN, America Online, EarthLink and Yahoo.

All the services have a variety of antispam technologies and practices. Last week, AOL said it had blocked 2 billion spam messages in a single day.

Microsoft said subscribers to MSN 8 and Hotmail can choose not to load images within e-mails, unless the sender is listed in the receiver's contact list. Spam often includes so-called "web beacon" images that send a message back to the sender when the receiver opens the message. These messages allow spammers to distinguish active e-mail accounts from inactive ones.

In March, Microsoft started limiting Hotmail subscribers to 100 messages a day in an attempt to prevent spammers from plying their trade through its accounts. In December, Microsoft added another antispam technology called Human Interactive Proof, which made the registration process difficult to complete using only a computer. Spammers often use bots to create accounts.

Since implementing HIP, Microsoft said Thursday it had reduced by 20 percent the number of online attempts to register new e-mail accounts, a sign that fewer spammers are using the service.

Antispam groups welcomed Microsoft's latest efforts, saying it was another indication of the seriousness behind the increasing volume of spam clogging consumer and corporate e-mail boxes.

"Microsoft realizes that being antispam and doing a good job of blocking spam is a competitive advantage in the marketplace," said John Mozena, vice president and co-founder of the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail.

Besides attacking spam through technology, AOL, EarthLink and Microsoft have filed lawsuits to stop spammers. EarthLink on Wednesday won a $16.4 million judgement against a spammer.

Nevertheless, Mozena still believes there's a need for government intervention.

"We believe a solution to spam is going to require legal and technical tools," he said. "What we're still lacking is a set of legal tools from government to stop spammers after they evade the technical barriers."

*This story courtesy of Techweb.com.