2 on Earthlink to deploy challenge-response antispam system

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Udhay Shankar N <udhay () pobox com>
Date: Thu, 08 May 2003 13:13:23 +0530
To: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Subject: Earthlink to deploy challenge-response antispam system

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22390-2003May6.html

EarthLink to Offer Anti-Spam E-Mail System (TechNews.com)
'Challenge-Response' Technology Rejects Messages Unless Senders Are Cleared
by Recipients

By Jonathan Krim
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 7, 2003; Page E01

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.

<snip>

-- 
((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))


------ End of Forwarded Message

And

  LOS ALTOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 7, 2003--Mailblocks today
announced that it has filed suit against EarthLink Inc. for patent
infringement of its Challenge/Response technology, which eliminates email
spam from users' inboxes.
    According to Mailblocks, EarthLink initiated discussions with Mailblocks
in connection with its soon-to-be-launched service a short while ago. Based
on information presently available, Mailblocks says it appears that the
EarthLink service, as advertised, will infringe patent rights held by
Mailblocks.
    The suit was filed today in the United States District Court for the
Central District of California.
    "Mailblocks developed and owns the patents for Challenge/Response, and
we intend to vigorously enforce our rights to the fullest extent permitted
by law," said Phil Goldman, Mailblocks' CEO.
    Mailblocks' patented Challenge/Reponses technology eliminates spam
generated by computers by assuring that only email sent by humans is placed
in a user's email inbox. Email sent from new people who are not in the
user's electronic email address book are placed in a Pending folder and
automatically sent a request to authenticate (called a Challenge).
Machine-generated email cannot reply to the Challenge email, so that message
is not sent to the user's inbox. New users need to respond only once to a
Challenge in order to be recognized in the future. When users wish to
receive email that will be computer-generated, such as confirmations of
email purchases or newsletter subscriptions, they can use a special email
address to automatically allow those emails to be sent directly to their
inbox.

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