Mustafa Akgul
2004-11-30 03:41:51 UTC
Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology.
*****************************************************
TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2004
High-Definition Radio at Michigan State
Screen Saver to Fight Spam
Major Labels Back New P2P Service
SCREEN SAVER TO FIGHT SPAM
A new screensaver by Internet portal Lycos is designed to fight spam by
running up the costs of operating Web sites that sell goods commonly
advertised in spam e-mail. Rather than targeting the e-mails themselves
or their sources, which are often spoofed, the new tactic focuses on
the Web sites where spam directs consumers. Using blacklists--from
organizations such as Spamcop--of companies that profit from spam, the
screensaver sends repeated requests to those companies' Web sites for
information about their products. The goal, according to officials at
Lycos, is not to overload the sites to the point of failure but to
drive up the costs for companies to respond to so many hits on their
Web sites. The screensaver also has been shown to slow traffic on some
targeted sites by as much as 85 percent. The hope, according to Malte
Pollmann of Lycos Europe, is that there will be a general decline in
the amount of spam sent if the vendors who benefit from spam are forced
to pay much higher costs to maintain their Web sites. The screensaver,
which can be downloaded beginning in December, is available to all
users, regardless of whether they are registered users of Lycos.
BBC, 29 November 2004
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4051553.stm
whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology.
*****************************************************
TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2004
High-Definition Radio at Michigan State
Screen Saver to Fight Spam
Major Labels Back New P2P Service
SCREEN SAVER TO FIGHT SPAM
A new screensaver by Internet portal Lycos is designed to fight spam by
running up the costs of operating Web sites that sell goods commonly
advertised in spam e-mail. Rather than targeting the e-mails themselves
or their sources, which are often spoofed, the new tactic focuses on
the Web sites where spam directs consumers. Using blacklists--from
organizations such as Spamcop--of companies that profit from spam, the
screensaver sends repeated requests to those companies' Web sites for
information about their products. The goal, according to officials at
Lycos, is not to overload the sites to the point of failure but to
drive up the costs for companies to respond to so many hits on their
Web sites. The screensaver also has been shown to slow traffic on some
targeted sites by as much as 85 percent. The hope, according to Malte
Pollmann of Lycos Europe, is that there will be a general decline in
the amount of spam sent if the vendors who benefit from spam are forced
to pay much higher costs to maintain their Web sites. The screensaver,
which can be downloaded beginning in December, is available to all
users, regardless of whether they are registered users of Lycos.
BBC, 29 November 2004
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4051553.stm