Jordan Ritter, one of the founders of music-sharing company Napster, plans to release a new anti-spam technology called Folsom. Created by Ritter and software designer Vipul Ved Prakash, Folsom will allow Internet users to employ collaboration, networking, and file-sharing to identify and block spam messages. Initial reports suggest that the technology also uses artificial intelligence to learn to identify spam messages based on their content.
Reportedly, in tests the new system has been able to reduce levels of unwanted email to almost nothing while blocking few legitimate messages. Folsom is scheduled for release in May 2002 through a new company called Cloudmark.
Views: Could Be a New Chapter in the Spam Saga
If the popularity of Napster (well, as of a couple years ago) is any gauge, Folsom could put anti-spam technology in the hands of individual users as never before. Ease of use will be an important factor. Current spam filtering solutions are hard for the average user to employ successfully. I see widespread frustration with spam among Internet users, and a usable tool to fight spam could catch on quickly.
On the other hand, as an email publisher and marketer, I'm concerned about potential abuses and unintended consequences of a new anti-spam technology. Current spam filtering, blocking, and blacklisting systems can be employed in unfair and arbitrary ways. A business's legitimate email communications can be blocked by some third party without any effective way to appeal. Could Folsom end up making things worse?
The next few months could get very interesting. Stay tuned.
-- Al Bredenberg, Publisher, EmailResults.com
