Spam is evil. Yesterday the four largest Internet ISPs, AOL, Earthlink, Yahoo and Microsoft, filed suits meant to shut down a number of leading senders of unsolicited junk e-mail, or spam. The suits, which are seeking monetary damages and injunctions against further mass e-mail messages, are among the first to invoke the new federal antispam law, which went into effect January. This is not the total solution, but the lawsuits are clearly a piece of a broader solution that will bring some relief to your inbox.
The aggressive legal action should send a strong message that the Internet industry is serious about making a dent in the estimated 2 billion spam messages sent daily. By banding together, it will be easier to track down culprits. The Can-Spam Act bans spammers from hiding behind false return addresses and puts the onus on marketers to get consumers' permission to send commercial e-mail. The government can impose jail terms under criminal charges. Still, enforcement could be thorny, anti-spam experts say, because many of the largest spammers live outside the USA and use sophisticated software to cover their digital tracks.
Folks there is a solution here. I know it because you don't have to go to far to find out that it is possible. Remember those aggravating and annoying telemarketing calls? They have virtually DISAPPEARED since the legislation late last year went into effect. I am convinced that a legal action like this one combined with a technical solution will solve the problem within two years and hopefully sooner. In the meantime there are relatively inexpensive solutions that will make your life easier from spam. I used to use mailwasher but now the mailserever our web site owns has purchased a very effective spam filter that eliminates over 90 percent of the spam.
New York Times March 11, 2004