Microsoft's anti spam tactics caned

DESPITE THE fact that Microsoft is practically forcing ISPs to adopt its Sender ID anti-spam methods, Sysadmins and network professionals don't believe it will work.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, most of the people it interviewed about the latest Volish moves were sceptical that such pressure would work. Yesterday, Microsoft threatened to block mail access to its glorious Hotmail free email service if the mail didn't have Sender ID tags.

But Melbourne-based IT consultant Craig Sanders told the Herald that if Vole starts doing that, then most legitimate mail would be classed as junk.

This will result in Micorsoft destroying its own mail services rather than forcing adoption of Sender ID, he claimed.

Sanders said that there was no way that Vole could force everyone to use their proprietary and patented Sender ID proposal because the net didn't work like that.

Richard Forno, another IT consultant, said Microsoft's "go it alone" approach on spam indicated it was defining its own standard than really doing anything for the community. Computer Associates researcher Jakub Kaminski said that Volish plans to reduce spam using Sender ID would not work, because the early adopters of the system were the spammers. µ

L'INQ
Sydney Morning Herald