Welcome guest. Before posting on our computer help forum, you must register. Click here it's easy and free.

Author Topic: Anti-Spam screensaver announced... then scrapped  (Read 13582 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Corrosive

  • Guest
Anti-Spam screensaver announced... then scrapped
« on: December 07, 2004, 12:11:09 PM »
Quote
A contentious campaign to bump up the bandwidth bills of spammers by flooding their sites with data has been dropped.

Lycos Europe's Make Love, Not Spam campaign began in late November but its tactics proved controversial.

Lycos has shut down the campaign saying it had been started to stimulate debate about anti-spam measures and had now achieved this aim.

The anti-spammer screensaver came under fire for encouraging vigilante activity and skirting the edge of the law.


Source: BBC News - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4073547.stm

It appears the system went a bit overboard with the amount of data it was sending out and the whole thing went belly up. But I think the best bit is the timing of it all:

"Screensaver tackles spam websites" - 29 Nov 04
"Anti-spam plan overwhelms sites" - 02 Dec 04
"Freeze on anti-spam campaign" - 03 Dec 04
Anti-spam screensaver scrapped - 06 Dec 04

From release to death in a single week.

Neil



    Expert
  • Fear me Track. Noone can escape my wrath.
  • Thanked: 3
    Re: Anti-Spam screensaver announced... then scrapp
    « Reply #1 on: December 07, 2004, 12:50:59 PM »
    I've had yogurts stay fresh longer than that.

    Raptor

    • Guest
    Re: Anti-Spam screensaver announced... then scrapp
    « Reply #2 on: December 08, 2004, 01:35:10 PM »
    Yoghurt stays proper for quite a while.

    I wonder if that's ethical.. Spamming spammers?

    Neil



      Expert
    • Fear me Track. Noone can escape my wrath.
    • Thanked: 3
      Re: Anti-Spam screensaver announced... then scrapp
      « Reply #3 on: December 09, 2004, 01:08:25 PM »
      Don't spam, lest ye be spammed.

      2k dummy

      • Guest
      Re: Anti-Spam screensaver announced... then scrapp
      « Reply #4 on: December 09, 2004, 02:35:36 PM »
      There is virus circulating that arrives in an email and claims to install this screen saver. It installs a key logger and sends the results to a site in Indonesia. Hope nobody falls for it, especially since Lycos has pulled the plug on it.