News Flash: Gates (Still) Hates Spam

That's a little bit like saying you love your children and dislike terrorists, but there you have it.

In a letter e-mailed to customers and reporters, Gates offered an update of Microsoft's antispam progress over the past year and a road map for cutting back on the nuisance of unsolicited e-mail in the future.

Microsoft, through its various MSN, Exchange, Outlook and other groups, has made spam-fighting a top priority, he noted.

For the full text, see Microsoft's Web site.

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While lauding Microsoft's efforts to entrench its SmartScreen filtering in MSN 8, Hotmail and Outlook, Gates said far more needs to be done. In fact, most people say their inboxes are more crammed now than ever with unsolicited, often pornographic, mailings. Some even say the Can Spam Act of 2003 has sparked even more of the e-mail scourge.

Going forward, Gates said his company will continue to work with other members of the Anti-Spam Technical Alliance on best practices for e-mail providers and large mailers. America Online, Yahoo, Earthlink, Comcast and British Telecom are members of this effort.

Gates also preached the adoption of a Microsoft-backed Sender ID technology that would verify a sender's identity. Most spam by far is sent under false names and identities via spoofing.

Also on the wish list is a way for recipients to classify their outgoing e-mail to guarantee its delivery.

For more on spam and antispam see CRN.