A grassroots campaign to put an end to Internet spamming – bombarding a site with so many messages that the server seizes up and becomes inaccessible – plans to go public with one of the Internet’s first anti-spamming Web sites this week. Campaign organizer Scott Hazen Mueller has been running an anti-spam mailing list at spam@zorch.sf-bay.org for a year and a half now. He says that recent developments like the America Online Inc legal battles (CI Nos 2,993, 2,994) and the Panix SYN flooding attack have all contributed to a growing sentiment on the Internet that unwanted mail needs to be blocked out. Towards the beginning of last month, Mueller adds, things started to hit critical mass with people wanting to block spam. Mueller’s site, which can currently be accessed in beta form at http://www.sf-bay.org/spam/, will provide a variety of information on spamming issues, like information on blocking spam and a blacklist of Internet advertisers. Mueller says that for spamming to be eradicated, either service providers must blockade spamming sites or consumers must stop buying products from people who spam. He hopes that the anti-spam site is a first step in making that happen.
