Internet giants join-up in fight against spam

Posted on 28 Apr 2003 at 17:22

Yahoo!, AOL and Microsoft have joined forces to fight the ever-rising tide of spam email.

The three Internet giants aim to work with other organisations to 'drive technical standards and industry guidelines that can be adopted regardless of platform'.

The alliance has set four basic targets. First it will aim to protect email users from receiving spam by focussing on three things: preventing spammers from using deceptive techniques in email headers specifying the email sender, by using existing directories of Internet addresses such as the Domain Name System to better identify the location from which email is originating; inhibiting email from systems determined to be open to unauthorised use (such as open relays, open routers or open proxies); and restricting email that uses concealment techniques designed to hide or change the identity of the sender and the source of the email.

This will be backed up by stopping the use of email services for sending spam, by eliminating the ability to create fraudulent email accounts in bulk, establishing a mechanism for customer feedback and complaints and defining best practices for anti-spam policies that can be implemented across the Internet.

The three companies will also establish technical and best-practice guidelines for companies that use email to conduct their legitimate business, so that they can best distinguish themselves from spam.

Finally, the alliance will work with law enforcement agencies, and improve efforts to make existing laws more effective. Initiatives will include: the development of better mechanisms for preserving electronic evidence relating to the activities of such spammers to facilitate enforcement actions brought by industry and by law enforcement; co-ordination among ISPs and industry in their respective anti-spam enforcement efforts to help ensure that resources are most effectively deployed against spam senders who cause the greatest impact on consumers; similar co-ordination in the referral of spammers for enforcement action by government, including civil enforcement agencies charged with dealing with particular types of spam frauds (such as stock scams and get-rich-quick schemes), and, where appropriate, criminal enforcement.

Geoff Sutton, director of Microsoft's MSN UK said, 'Today's announcement is a huge step forward. For the first time leading players in the industry are uniting to tackle this issue effectively at a strategic level. This sends a clear message to spammers that unsolicited email will not be tolerated and will be fought aggressively at every level. Regulation, education and technical innovation employed at an industry level are our most effective weapons in the fight against spam.'

Author: Simon Aughton