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Subject: FC: FTC turns to oft-unreliable blacklists to limit spam
From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well ! com>
Date: 2002-11-27 3:14:20
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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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