This software is free at http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/fairuce
-henry --- "Anne P. Mitchell, Esq." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > On Mar 23, 2005, at 12:37 PM, RSK wrote: > > > On Tue, Mar 22, 2005 at 10:24:37AM -0800, Andreas > Ott wrote: > >> > http://money.cnn.com/2005/03/22/technology/ibm_spam/ > > > > If this write-up is accurate, > > It's not. From the http://www.aunty-spam.com > website: > > IBM Not Spamming Spammers! FairUCE is About Fair > Use, Not Abuse! > > Did you hear? IBM is spamming spammers! It’s all > over the Internet, and > tongues are a’wagging! Except, it ain’t so. IBM is > not spamming > spammers. > > > Whether you think that spamming spammers is right > or wrong, IBM ain’t > doing it, and shame on CNN for getting it so wrong, > and making IBM look > so irresponsible, and in league with the likes of > Lycos’ “Make Love Not > Spam” DOSsing Screensaver program, and the notorious > Mugu Maurauder > bandwidth sucking program. > > You can’t really blame the folks who read CNN’s > horribly wrong piece > for spreading the rumour, after all it was quite > sensationalist: > > “Spamming spammers? > IBM to offer service to bounce unwanted e-mail back > to the computers > that sent them. > March 22, 2005: 12:22 PM EST > > NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - IBM unveiled a service > Tuesday that sends > unwanted e-mails back to the spammers who sent them. > > The new IBM (Research) service, known as FairUCE, > essentially uses a > giant database to identify computers that are > sending spam. E-mails > coming from a computer on the spam database are sent > directly back to > the computer, not just the e-mail account, that sent > them.” > > Wrong, wrong, wrong. > > About the only thing which the article got right is > that the program is > called “FairUCE". FairUCE, according to IBM’s own > FairUCE website, > readily available for anyone to read (cough…CNN > reporters..cough), is a > “spam filter that stops spam by verifying sender > identity instead of > filtering content". > > Let’s say that again: FairUCE is a spam filter that > stops spam by > verifying sender identity instead of filtering > content. > > If FairUCE can’t verify sender identity, then it > goes into > challenge-response mode, sending a challenge email > to the sender, to > which the sender must reply, to demonstrate that it > is not a spambot > sending the mail in question, but a real live > person. > > Here is IBM’s explanation of how the FairUCE system > works: > > “Technically, FairUCE tries to find a relationship > between the envelope > sender’s domain and the IP address of the client > delivering the mail, > using a series of cached DNS look-ups. For the vast > majority of > legitimate mail, from AOL to mailing lists to vanity > domains, this is a > snap. If such a relationship cannot be found, > FairUCE attempts to find > one by sending a user-customizable > challenge/response. This alone > catches 80% of UCE and very rarely challenges > legitimate mail.” > > Now, being kind, it’s possible that the good folks > at CNN mistook the > sending of the challenge for “spamming the > spammer".... > > (Rest at > http://www.aunty-spam.com/ibm-not-spamming-spammers-fairuce-is-about- > > fair-use-not-abuse/) > > Anne > > > >
