Microsoft Corp., whose Hotmail and MSN services are inundated by spam, has contracted for a service that lets e-mail from legitimate companies more easily reach people's inboxes. By marking certain bulk mailings as "good," Microsoft hopes to ultimately filter out the remaining unsolicited mail more aggressively, said George Webb, business manager for Microsoft's anti-spam group.
The idea is to address a common complaint now faced by e-mail providers: that they block too much legitimate mail erroneously.
The tool Microsoft will now use, from IronPort Systems Inc., requires bulk senders to post a bond to participate. If any bulk mailer draws too many complaints from recipients, money is deducted and donated to a charity committed to fighting spam.
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