France kicks off nationwide spam fight with open-source toolbar
France is hoping to shut down spammers more quickly through a system that makes it easier for users to notify ISPs (Internet service providers) when unsolicited e-mails are coming from their network.
The French government funded the development of an open-source toolbar for Microsoft's Outlook and Mozilla's Thunderbird e-mail programs that people can use to report suspected spam, said John Graham-Cumming, an Englishman who built the software for the project, called Signal Spam.
"From the French perspective, spam is like any other criminal activity that is affecting the French people," Graham-Cumming said.
