FC: FTC turns to oft-unreliable blacklists to limit spam

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://news.com.com/2100-1023-975473.html

   Public access to FTC hurt by spam lists
   By Declan McCullagh 
   November 26, 2002, 5:22 PM PT

   When Josh Tinnin tried to send e-mail to the U.S. Federal Trade
   Commission this month, he received an unwelcome surprise: He couldn't.
   
   Tinnin's message to the FTC bounced back because the agency subscribes
   to a blacklisting service designed to limit the amount of spam making
   its way into the agency's in-boxes. SBC Pacific Bell, Tinnin's
   Internet service provider, appeared on the blacklist as a haven for
   senders of junk e-mail.
   
   "I didn't know that the government was using blacklists," said Tinnin,
   who lives in Fremont, Calif. "That was surprising."
                                                                         
   Businesses and individual Internet users have turned to blacklists to
   try to stanch the steadily increasing flow of bulk e-mail. But the FTC
   appears to be the first federal agency to adopt the often-buggy lists,
   and some legal experts say the practice raises novel issues and may
   violate Americans' First Amendment right to "petition the government."
   
   FTC spokeswoman Claudia Farrell said the commission began filtering
   its incoming mail in August "as an ongoing effort to protect agency
   computing resources and productivity of agency staff."

   [...]



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