MUMBAI: Portal America Online (AOL) in the US says that as a result of a strong and sustained fight against spamming activity its members are increasingly enjoying a spam-free email experience.
AOL states that spam activity is down by more than 85 per cent on the service, as measured by member referrals, and AOL’s anti-spam filters are blocking more than 1.4 billion pieces of spam each day, as compared to a high of 2.4 billion messages blocked in a single day in 2003.
AOL has also recovered nearly $100,000 worth of gold bars and cash, as well as a fully-loaded 2003 Hummer H2, from a major spammer that AOL caught with the help of its members. The company attributes this success to its multi-pronged approach in fighting the scourge of spam, which includes a combination of software tools, filtering technology, public policy, litigation and enforcement, and industry partnership.
As a reward to AOL members, visitors to AOL.com and web users, the spammers’ ill-gotten loot is being given away through the AOL Spammer’s Gold Sweepstakes. Additionally, the company will donate tens of thousands of dollars worth of high-end computer equipment seized from this spammer to local public schools and school systems in Northern Virginia in the US.
The gold, cash and the Hummer were seized as part of the first lawsuit filed by AOL under the federal CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, and aided by AOL members who have used the “Report Spam” button to help AOL anti-spam, digital detectives investigate and snare one of the country’s most prolific spam gangs. In addition to these assets, AOL has also obtained a $13 million judgment in the case against the remaining members of the spam gang.
AOL chairman and CEO Jon Miller says, “The safety and security of our members is Job No. 1 at AOL. That means taking aggressive action against spammers and scammers. I am delighted that our efforts are paying off, literally, with the seizure of these assets and the sweepstakes. We are putting the brakes on spammers and celebrating our gold standard spam protections for the AOL service and the AIM Mail product at AOL.com. Our hard work in fighting spam is paying off in another way as well — since November 2003 when spam was at its peak, we’ve achieved a dramatic and hugely beneficial decline in the amount of spam reaching our members’ email boxes.”