Microsoft Revises Antispam Plan

Computerworld - After running into loud opposition to its first Sender ID antispam plan, Microsoft Corp. revised it and resubmitted it to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) last week.
The new plan resolves disputes with Internet service providers and the open-source software community about the use of patent-pending technology, said Meng Weng Wong, chief technology officer at Pobox.com and a co-author of the revised proposal.
The standard combines two authentication standards -- Caller ID, which Microsoft developed, and Sender Policy Framework (SPF), which Meng developed. Microsoft submitted a draft of Sender ID to an IETF working group in June, but the approval process became bogged down because Microsoft said it held patents for algorithms used to check PRAs, or purported responsible addresses, and planned to require that users obtain licenses for Sender ID .
The dispute produced some high-profile defections from the specification, including The Apache Software Foundation. America Online Inc. also opposed Sender ID because it wasn't compatible with early forms of SPF. AOL said it will support the revised version of Sender ID.
Microsoft expects the specification to be given "experimental" status by the IETF but doesn't know if it will be taken up for formal approval by the group, according a Microsoft spokesman.
Despite the changes, the new specification still might not satisfy open-source software advocates, who continue to be concerned about Microsoft's patent claims and the larger problem of proliferating intellectual property patents, Meng said.
Roberts reports for the IDG News Service.

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