Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft Will Sell Whitelist Services For Hotmail
Ec|ipse writes "Looks like Microsoft has found another way to make money, this time from spam. Microsoft has adopted a "whitelist" program (Bonded Sender by IronPort) which will allow marketers to pay Microsoft so that they are included on a special whitelist, guaranteeing uninteruptable delivery of their messages to Hotmail and MSN users. You can catch the full article at Excite. I especially like the nice naming for spammers, calling them 'marketers' sounds so much more legitimate."
mgibbs adds "Hopefully the $20K fine that results from abuse of this system is enough to deter spammers."
1/ make spamming easy 2/ make spamming hard 3/ profit.
--- Back to the trees, back to the trees !
Get a hold of the whitelist, and you can immediately add it to your OWN spam filter! Nice of Microsoft to offer to collect all, umm, marketers in one place...
I was *just* recently sitting here and wondering if there was anything Microsoft could have done to squander the product, userbase and public goodwill MS inherited when they bought Hotmail that they haven't done already.
/. article right now..
I couldn't think of anything
I guess I'm just not as imaginative as MS.
I'll bet the GMail team is doing a little dance of joy at reading this
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
I cert.ainl.y H-O-P-E th4t it d0es a G o o d job
Props to GNAA!
Mine frigging dosen't. All mine offers is "Scqwirting Teenz Chickz" and "V1AGRA".
When I first read that tidbit yesterday, I assumed it was so Microsoft could snoop on all future Windows machines. Now in ADDITION to that potential, they can beam you uninterruptible spam!
So, is there any chance that if those features are advertised widely, fewer people will buy Longhorn?
ya, MS has both sides covered. It's a Win-Win for MS. from the article:
.....ohhh wait
Those found to be engaging in abusive behavior forfeit a cash bond of up to $20,000, Gillis said.
...
"When you add these up over time, it will be uneconomical to send out spam," said Microsoft spam specialist George Webb.
I like it. If people are allowed to opt out of REQUESTED mail from "legitimate marketers", great. And if the marketers continue to send spam, then I get $20,000, WOOOHOOO!
I'm thinking about the one involving putting the fox to guard the chickens.
Seriously, I hope this convinces people to not use Hotmail etc - now with guaranteed spam...
'Don't worry' said the trees when they saw the axe coming, 'The handle is one of us.'
Hot Damn thats it im moving to Denmark... chances are it's warmer then here in Canada.
A psychopath can't tell the difference between right and wrong. A sociopath knows the difference - he just doesn't care.
Yes, I'm very happy to have all the adverts. If it keeps my e-mail free and easy to use, and I'm not forced to do anything at all (like click any adverts), why not let them do what they like?
Then again, I'll be getting my own website with my own mail server soon, so then everything I've just said will become entirely obsolete. Like everything in life. Ah well.
Surely Usenet is a better place if replies are posted back to the newsgroup, rather than just the individual. My newsreader lets me search by posts I've appended to.
That depends. Often people mention things in their post that aren't really relevant to the newsgroup, so an offline discussion is better.
For instance, just the other day someone spotted my name and emailed me to let me know that a distant relative had died, and left tons of money, which is probably mine to claim. Soon I'll be rich.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
You've never driven in Pittsburgh.
___
It's the end of my comment as I know it and I feel fine.