FC: Earthlink will begin to offer email challenge technology

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Thu May 08 2003 - 22:25:12 PDT

  • Next message: Declan McCullagh: "FC: More on Earthlink's email challenge, Mailblocks lawsuit"

    [I've already sent an alert to the hundreds of Politech subscribers from 
    Earthlink warning them to make sure this list is whitelisted. This as a 
    reminder. :) --Declan]
    
    ---
    
    From: J Armitage <j.armitageat_private>
    To: "'declanat_private'" <declanat_private>
    Subject: EarthLink to Offer Anti-Spam E-Mail System
    Date: Thu, 8 May 2003 08:09:30 +0100
    
    X-UIDL: c374a63ce369429fff6ef0ca054b034d
    
    Hi Declan
    
    Did you see this piece from yesterday's Washington Post?
    
    Best wishes
    
    John
    ================
    washingtonpost.com
    EarthLink to Offer Anti-Spam E-Mail System
    'Challenge-Response' Technology Rejects Messages Unless Senders Are Cleared
    by Recipients
    By Jonathan Krim
    Washington Post Staff Writer
    Wednesday, May 7, 2003; Page E01
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22390-2003May6.html
    
    A system that backers claim will eliminate e-mail spam is about to be
    deployed by a major Internet service provider, giving a boost to an emerging
    technology that if widely adopted would change how people communicate
    online.
    Atlanta-based EarthLink Inc., the country's third-largest provider of
    for-pay e-mail accounts, will roll out test versions of the system for its 5
    million subscribers this month.
    Known as "challenge-response" technology, the system thwarts the ability of
    spammers to reach their intended audience with millions of automatically
    generated e-mails. When someone sends an e-mail to a challenge-response
    user, he or she gets an e-mail back asking to verify that the sender is a
    live person.
    Once the sender does that by replicating a word or picture displayed on the
    screen, the original e-mail is allowed through. The system automatically
    recognizes future e-mails from the same sender, so the verification needs
    only to be performed once. Without the verification, the e-mail is not
    delivered.
    Some experts see problems with the technology and doubt that consumers will
    warm to a process that adds another step to e-mail delivery. The technology
    is available from a handful of small vendors for a fee, but the customer
    base is small.
    ...
    
    
    
    
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