NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: MICHAEL OSTERMAN ON MESSAGING 11/02/04 Today's focus: Turning spam recipients into bounty hunters
Dear [EMAIL PROTECTED], In this issue: * FTC reports on idea of using bounty system for finding ��spammers * Links related to Messaging * Featured reader resource _______________________________________________________________ This newsletter is sponsored by Antepo TAKE CONTROL OF INSTANT MESSAGING Antepo OPN System provides the foundation for enterprise-grade IM in your organization, with XMPP & SIMPLE interoperability, unmatched security, carrier-class reliability, and built-in SEC compliance. Build Presence into Outlook & business applications and integrate with familiar tools like SQL Server, Oracle and Active Directory. http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=81256 _______________________________________________________________ Security Event : DEFENDING IN DEPTH Security: The vulnerability that paralyzes enterprise. Exposes assets. Drains capital. Compromises users. And terrifies management. It's your network's Achilles heel - but it doesn't have to be your downfall. Register today to find out how to protect yourself. http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=86147 _______________________________________________________________ Today's focus: Turning spam recipients into bounty hunters By Michael Osterman Many spam recipients would probably like to adopt the Old West approach of "Dead or Alive" when it comes to finding and prosecuting spammers. Placing a bounty on the head of spammers would certainly provide an economic incentive to finding them. In September, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a report to Congress, "A CAN-SPAM Informant Reward System." This report, required by the CAN-SPAM Act, discusses the potential for rewarding people who provide information to the FTC on spammers who violate the act. The gist of the report is that if a bounty system is established: A) It should reward informants once the court has established the guilt of the spammer, not when the spammer pays his fine; B) It should reward informants only when they provide information about the most egregious violations of the act; C) Taxpayers should pay the rewards instead of using fines collected from spammers; D) The FTC should be the final determinant of who would be rewarded; and E) Bounties should be big. There is an interesting blog discussion on this issue at Marginal Revolution in which the author of a piece entitled "Spam Bounty" argues in favor of Point B above. The author contends that "focusing rewards on the spammers responsible for the particular pieces of spam that went out to the most people" would be the most effective method of stopping spammers, since it would limit information on less problematic types of spam. Already, the FTC processes 300,000 pieces of forwarded spam each day. Offering big bounties for any violation of the CAN-SPAM Act would likely result in an enormous increase in the amount of spam sent to the FTC for evaluation. A bounty system might work very well to stop some of the most offensive spammers. A precedent for such a system was set by Microsoft earlier this year when it issued a $5 million bounty on virus writers; this led to the arrest of the 18-year-old German author of the Sasser worm. However, unlike the authors of the report discussed above, I don't agree that taxpayers should foot the bill for paying informants. What are your thoughts on the effectiveness of bounties to stop spammers or virus writers? Please drop me a line at <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> RELATED EDITORIAL LINKS Blog at Marginal Revolution http://www.nwfusion.com/nlmsg802 _______________________________________________________________ To contact: Michael Osterman Michael D. Osterman is the principal of Osterman Research <http://www.ostermanresearch.com/>, a market research firm that helps organizations understand the markets for messaging, directory and related products and services. He can be reached by clicking here <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> _______________________________________________________________ This newsletter is sponsored by NetScout The deployment of VoIP is well underway and unstoppable, but the implementation and ongoing support is extremely challenging. To successfully support VoIP and other demanding applications, IT organizations need to change their approach to network management. Learn about readiness assessment, design and ongoing management in the Network World Special Report: Recommendations for Implementing and Managing Converged Networks. http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=85923 _______________________________________________________________ ARCHIVE LINKS Archive of the Messaging newsletter: http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/gwm/index.html _______________________________________________________________ FEATURED READER RESOURCE NW CLEAR CHOICE TESTS The Network World Lab Alliance is a coalition of industry experts, network integration consultants, independent test labs and universities who conduct single-product reviews and head-to-head comparative tests in real enterprise network settings. Find out which products get the "thumbs-up" in categories such as web front-end devices, WLAN security, anti-spam and more at: <http://www.nwfusion.com/reviews/> _______________________________________________________________ May We Send You a Free Print Subscription? You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered at your fingertips each day. Now, extend your knowledge by receiving 51 FREE issues to our print publication. Apply today at http://www.subscribenw.com/nl2 International subscribers click here: http://nww1.com/go/circ_promo.html _______________________________________________________________ SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World e-mail newsletters, go to: <http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/Changes.aspx> To unsubscribe from promotional e-mail go to: <http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/Preferences.aspx> To change your e-mail address, go to: <http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/ChangeMail.aspx> Subscription questions? 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