Network-Based Solution for Phishing Attacks?

An anonymous reader is curious about this: "A company called TippingPoint (3com) sells an Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) that promise 'to block phishing attempts and guard against identity theft'. What I found interesting is the wide spectrum of actions they take to acheive a single goal: 'The IPS uses a variety of mechanisms to detect and prevent phishing scams including vulnerability protection, pattern-matching protection, and behavior-based protection.' What do you think about the effectivness of IPS?"