rentzsch.com: Spam Blocking Patents

Spam Blocking Patents

For blocking spam, I firmly believe address filtering (via whitelists) is a superior alternative to content filtering. I knew about challenge-response-type address-filtering email systems for a while now, but I never thought much of them. In my view, the spammer wins every time a message is successfully delivered. He's successfully wasted your bandwidth and storage space. In addition, all the systems I've seen depend on some sort of "pending" folder that requires the user weed through from time to time.

A few months back, I created a method to defer delivery of an email while a challenge-response cycle is invoked. This stops the spammer from actually delivering his payload (saving bandwidth and storage space) and eliminates the kludgy "pending" folder as well. I thought it so nifty, I've filed for a patent on it. My grand scheme was to license it freely to individuals and most organizations, while asking for a reasonable fee from the mega-ISPs. So, don't hate me when I say it's patent-pending -- chances are you'll be able to use my invention for free.

Thus it was with great interest when Mailblocks burst onto the scene, claiming they have a patent on all challenge-response email systems. They're now suing EarthLink based on this patent.

Initially, I was bummed about Mailblocks' claim. However, I turned that around by spending 45 minutes searching Google for prior art. Bingo. Their patent filing date is Aug 26 1997, while Julian Byrne's newsgroup posting is dated Jan 19 1997.

I look forward to widespread adoption of address filtering systems. Done correctly, they provide a solid foundation for stemming the tide of spam.

Update: Declan McCullagh provides some more background information. Tip of the hat to Nello.

Thursday, May 08, 2003
12:00 AM

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