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By Matt Hines, News.com
Posted on ZDNet News: Nov 30, 2004 5:34:00 PM

In a new take on fighting spam, Web portal Lycos Europe has launched a screensaver designed to bombard Web sites promoted in unsolicited e-mail.

The effort, dubbed "Make love not spam," will officially launch on Wednesday and will center around the screensaver, which the company has designed to overload Web sites advertised via spam. Lycos Europe is a separate company from the Web portal that bears the Lycos name in the United States. Lycos Europe claims that it currently maintains roughly 40 million e-mail accounts across eight European countries.

Under the plan, when a URL already listed on Lycos Europe's spam blacklist is mentioned in e-mail sent to someone using the screensaver, the tool automatically and repeatedly requests data from the site in question. The idea is that when a large number of the screensavers send requests to the same page at the same time, those sites' performance will suffer greatly.

A graphic on the Lycos Europe site advertises the ability of its customers to "annoy a spammer now!"

Lycos Europe contends that the technology will create logistical problems for spammers. While the company said it does not intend to disable any site completely, it believes that it can overload sites based on the volume of spam created to advertise them. The company said the screensaver system uses an automated "health check" feature to ensure that its data requests never render any site completely inoperable.

  • Talkback
  • Most Recent of 14 Talkback(s)
Lycos anti spam
I don't suppose many of you are familiar with the placatory leanings of the following:
1. British politicians with Hitler prior to 1939.
2. British and other European politicians, including (per... (Read the rest)
Posted by: pedelibero Posted on: 12/02/04 You are currently: Logged In | Log out
screensaver needs option to send MORE data! Valis Keogh   | 11/30/04
I'm going to put it on all of mine also itanalyst   | 11/30/04
Amen brother! NonZealot   | 11/30/04
Wrong is in the eye of the beholder Squawkbox   | 11/30/04
Make Love Not Spam ChuTw   | 11/30/04
Great idea! Ronny102   | 11/30/04
Sweeeeeet. toadlife   | 11/30/04
but what if...... vinnie327   | 11/30/04
Not to worry young Jedi Squawkbox   | 11/30/04
Looks like they were hacked NonZealot   | 11/30/04
it's working now Valis Keogh   | 11/30/04
Please mcyates   | 12/01/04
Spam - the marketers bought the govt. so..... meslerj   | 12/01/04
Lycos anti spam pedelibero   | 12/02/04

What do you think?

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