Computers

Stumbling ISP PSINet has owned up to a contract with a sender of bulk unsolicited commercial email - known to you and me as spam. It has long been a suspicion that some ISPs have had illicit contracts with spammers, despite a publicly stated policy against such practices. [The Register]

Report on European consumer watchdog groups with no spam policies. [The Register]

A man who spammed millions of AOL subscribers with pornography and get-rich-quick schemes has pleaded guilty to second-degree forgery in a US District court. [The Register]

A US District Court in Denver has issued a temporary restraining order on behalf of online marketing gurus, 24/7, against the Mail Abuse Prevention System (MAPS). [The Register]

Microsoft's vastly interconnected ISP and portal, MSN, has become easy prey for spammers due to several poorly-protected mail (SMTP) servers to which outsiders can connect easily for a free, anonymous ride, according to a bulletin on the Mail Abuse Prevention System (MAPS) Web site. [The Register]

Major American ISP and Gargantuan telecomms generalist Verizon was deluged with so much spam last week that its servers were unable to function at times, and left customers with something like a 24-hour e-mail delivery delay. [The Register]

Even though there are now some state laws closely regulating spamming, the practice of sending mass unsolicited e-mails has acquired a sheen of respectability, and in some quarters is enthusiastically referred to as "sending an e-mail blitz." [E-Commerce Times]

Attempting to distance itself from a spam controversy, PSINet cut off service to an admitted sender of unsolicited commercial email and pledged to amend its spam policy and educate its sales force. [CNET.com]

Complaints about unsolicited commercial email have prompted an industry coalition to come up with standards designed to quell consumer concerns and keep regulators at bay. [CNET.com]

Spam filters used by some popular Internet email providers weed out only a fraction of the junk they're supposed to but almost never bounce legitimate messages, according to a new study. [CNET.com]

Home furnishing retailer IKEA has a new spin on spam, recruiting friends of friends to get the word out about its new store opening in the San Francisco Bay area. [CNET.com]

AT&T acknowledged Thursday that it had violated its own spam policy by providing Web-hosting services to a purported sender of unsolicited commercial email. [CNET.com]

Troubled Internet service provider PSINet acknowledged providing access to a sender of bulk unsolicited commercial email, bolstering critics' claims that some of the world's largest ISPs knowingly do business with spammers in violation of stated anti-spam policies. [CNET.com]

Blacklists, lawsuits, hate sites. Bulk e-mail is never a dull business. [Forbes]

Discussion about pink contracts. [Slashdot]

Internet service providers and permission-based marketing agencies are up in arms about the government's decision not to regulate against unsolicited commercial email or spam, as it's more commonly known. [Media Guardian] [Requires free registration.]

Online marketing - sometimes called spamming - is trying to clean up its act - so don't mention the S word. [BBC News]

An influential body of data protection experts could be about to recommend that Europe bans spam. [The Register]