[ale] Earthlink spam blocker challenged

[ChangingLINKS.com]

 May 8, 2003
EarthLink Anti-Spam Crusade Hits Roadblock
By Ryan Naraine

EarthLink's (Quote, Company Info) plans to implement "Challenge/Response" 
technology in its ongoing crusade against e-mail spam have hit a snag with a 
patent infringement complaint from e-mail service provider Mailblocks.

The Los Altos, Calif.-based Mailblocks claims it owns patents on the 
"Challenge/Response" technology, which adds a layer of e-mail authentication 
to eliminate spam from non-human senders. In the suit, filed in the U.S. 
District Court for the Central District of California, Mailblocks is asking 
the court to block EarthLink from directly or indirectly infringing on two 
patents it owns.

The company is also seeking an order directing EarthLink to "destroy any and 
all copies of software that implement or facilitate the implementation of any 
of the methods of the (two patents)," according to court documents.

The two patents in question -- Patent 6,112,227 (Heiner) and Patent No. 
6,199,102 (Cobb) are owned by Mailblocks and its CEO, Phillip Goldman, a 
former Microsoft executive who founded WebTV.

The Atlanta-based EarthLink, which plans to test the "Challenge/Response" 
(define) technology with its 5 million dial-up and broadband subscribers, 
declined comment on the legal proceedings. "We have not received the 
complaint and cannot comment at this time," an EarthLink spokesman said 
Thursday.

If Mailblocks wins an injunction to block EarthLink from launching the 
service, it could deal a serious blow to the access provider's two-pronged 
battle against the scourge of spam.

In one phase, the company has gone to court to sue known spammers and won a 
$16 million judgment Wednesday against "Buffalo Spammer" Howard Carmack, who 
was accused of sending more than 825 million unsolicited e-mails from illegal 
EarthLink accounts since early 2002.

The second phase of EarthLink's crusade is its "Challenge/Response" feature, 
which would effectively block computer-generated e-mails from spammers. The 
authentication technique auto-replies to an e-mail and asks the sender to 
manually verify he/she is a live person (the challenge). The user must 
respond to an embedded code in the form of a word or the description of an 
image (the response) before the e-mail is delivered.

The technology is set up to automatically recognize future e-mails that have 
been cleared with a challenge to ensure that the authentication is not 
repeated with every mail.

Mailblocks director of business strategies Ryan Keating told internetnews.com 
the company hold two patents that cover "Challenge/Response" and was forced 
to file the complaint after EarthLink advertised it would launch its test 
service.
"We went to great lengths to secure these patents. We'd like to see companies 
the size of EarthLink acknowledge that these patents exist and to be held 
accountable," Keating said. "Based on how the product is advertised, we feel 
EarthLink could be infringing on our patents. We're looking to deal with this 
early before the product is launched and picks up steam," he added.

Mailblocks has already filed lawsuits against three anti-spam firms marketing 
the "Challenge/Response" technology. Suits have been filed against 
Seattle-based SpamArrest, DigiPortal and Mail Frontier. All three firms 
market e-mail service that uses dual authentication to block spam.

Keating said Mailblocks was approached by EarthLink about a month ago to 
discuss licensing the technology but the negotiations fell apart. "They never 
mentioned they had their own plans but, two weeks after our talks ended, I 
got a call from them saying they are coming out with a "Challenge/Response" 
product. Naturally, we had to file the complaint to protect our patents," he 
added.

Mailblocks charges $10 per year for its service, which Keating described as 
"the closest thing to bulletproof" in the fight against spam.

However, the fact that "Challenge/Response" can block legitimate e-mail sent 
by non-humans, it's a sure bet this technolognology cold draw the ire of 
online publishers and direct marketers who conduct business via e-mail.

Mailblocks has set up a special "trackers" system that lets through 
computer-generated emails (confirmations of Web purchases or newsletter 
subscriptions) if the user sets up a special address. However, this puts the 
onus squarely on the consumer to clear certain subscriptions.

If a user forgets a particular newsletter subscription, that publication is 
never cleared to go though to the inbox, a reality that could hurt the online 
publishing industry. However, Keating maintains the "tracker" system would 
let through legitimate computer-generated mail if the user decides on a 
specific address to handles those subscriptions.

He conceded the "trackers" system puts the onus on the users but noted that 
all computer-generated mail sits in a pending folder for two weeks to allow 
the user to sift through and manually approve mail for delivery into his or 
her inbox.

Another major barrier to the "Challenge/Response" technology is the delays it 
could cause if a user sends an e-mail and steps away and misses the 
challenge. In such cases, it could be hours before the mail is authenticated 
and delivered.

Keating said this was a not a major issue for consumers who are looking for 
foolproof way to eliminate unsolicited mail. But, by adding another layer in 
the e-mail process, delays and the loss of legitimate mail could prove a 
tough sell for Mailblocks.

EarthLink is not the first major access provider on the anti-spam bandwagon. 
America Online (Quote, Company Info) recently teamed up with Microsoft 
(Quote, Company Info) and Yahoo (Quote, Company Info) to "initiate an open 
dialogue that will include organizations across this industry to drive 
technical standards and industry guidelines that can be adopted regardless of 
platform."

The three tech heavyweights plan to focus on protecting consumers from 
receiving spam by stopping companies which "use deceptive techniques in 
e-mail headers specifying the e-mail sender, by leveraging existing 
directories of Internet addresses such as the Domain Name System to better 
identify the location from which e-mail is originating."
-- 
Wishing you Happiness, Joy and Laughter,
Drew Brown
http://www.ChangingLINKS.com
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