Experts argue over possible spam fighting strategies
For all the problems spawned by spammers, one of the most troubling is that no one can agree on how to defeat them.
Everyone with a stake in the fight has a solution: The legal departments at Internet service providers, or ISPs, think it's high-profile lawsuits. Tech companies, not surprisingly, think it's technology -- specifically, the anti-spam products some of them sell.
Watchdog groups say ISPs must take responsibility since most spam -- a term that loosely defines unsolicited e-mail sent in bulk -- goes through their computer networks. And government agencies urge consumer education to fight spam used to commit fraud.
What they agree on: Spam is proliferating like crazy, with no end in sight.
"It just gets worse every week," said Bill Franklin, president of Coral Gables-based Zero Spam Network Inc., which makes anti-spam programs. "If something isn't done, the whole system of e-mail will get bogged down and keep making [computer] systems slower and slower."
