Spammers have been able to do this for some time. After reading this article, I wrote one that does a basic job in about an hour. (demonstrated at http://www.brandonchecketts.com/capdef/). If I can do it in about an hour, then I think it's safe to assume that spammers have had the capability for quite a while now. Since most sites that use CAPTCHAS seem to be quite satisfied with them, I think that it's safe to say that spammer's aren't using methods like this. The major appeal of spam is that it costs virtually nothing. Introducing a cost by having to pay somebody to solve CAPTCHAs seems to be deterrent enough to stop it pretty well.
Slashdot Mirror
Spammers have been able to do this for some time. After reading this article, I wrote one that does a basic job in about an hour. (demonstrated at http://www.brandonchecketts.com/capdef/). If I can do it in about an hour, then I think it's safe to assume that spammers have had the capability for quite a while now. Since most sites that use CAPTCHAS seem to be quite satisfied with them, I think that it's safe to say that spammer's aren't using methods like this. The major appeal of spam is that it costs virtually nothing. Introducing a cost by having to pay somebody to solve CAPTCHAs seems to be deterrent enough to stop it pretty well.