ISPs to close sites linked to junk mail

An influential group of UK-based ISPs last week declared war on unsolicited emails by promising to shut down web sites associated with mass mailings of spam, even if those sites did not transmit the spam.

The London Internet Exchange (Linx) said its members, which handle about 90 percent of the UK's internet traffic, would close UK hosted web sites of any firm involved in spamming the UK. Linx is also encouraging its members to shut any sites that offer spam tools such as CD-ROMs containing names and email addresses.

Neil Hammerton, managing director at messaging specialist Email Systems, welcomed the announcement. "It is a good idea to tackle the people that benefit financially from the spam as opposed to those that send it out," he said.

Linx now hopes to encourage ISPs in other countries to follow its lead. "We will be working to spread this standard beyond the UK, [and] we shall also be asking for support from the UK government," said Malcolm Hutty, Linx regulation officer.

However, experts commented that if other countries do not follow suit, this approach will remain only a minor contributor to the fight against spam.

Paul Woods, chief information security analyst at MessageLabs, said Linx's proposals were very ambitious, and spam should be tackled from a technical perspective. "ISPs have been swamped with complaints about spam and have struggled to keep up," he added. "Now they are taking much more responsibility."

Stephen Mason, barrister and government adviser, said, "Current laws and rules will never work - a spammer in Minnesota could not give a damn about UK rules."

Mason said the Office of Fair Trading should take the lead in strengthening anti-spam rules, and this would be a greater help than the Linx plan. He added, "For international rules to work you have to have the US on board. That is why technical solutions are likely to be much more effective."

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See also:

Spam frittered away by FBI diet

US Operation Web Snare may be responsible for drop in junk mail volumes  08 Sep 2004

Canning spam

Tools, strategies and legal efforts for eradicating unsolicited email - plus advice on how to ensure legitimate email marketing remains both legal and welcome  27 Feb 2004

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