Controversy over Lycos anti-spam plan
3 December 2004
A new screensaver launched by Lycos Europe has come under fire
The screensaver, unveiled earlier this week, uses idled computers to bombard spam websites with data to push up the bandwidth bills of spammers.
However, since its launch, the screensaver has proved so popular that it has completely overwhelmed some spam websites and has been criticised for internet vigilantism.
Web traffic monitor Netcraft has reportedly found that the 'Make love not spam' campaign has taken some of its target websites offline. Some analysts believe that web users downloading the screensaver could also be opening themselves up to attacks by targeting spammers.
Participants in the campaign are encouraged to download the Lycos screensaver, which has already been downloaded more than 90,000 times since it was launched.
Two websites hosted in China, bokwhdok.com and printmediaprofits.biz, were shut down by the screensaver and a number of others are responding to requests only intermittently. However, Lycos has insisted that it has no intention of taking sites offline, merely attempting to slow the bandwidth of its targets.
Experts have warned that, by attacking spam websites, Lycos could also be attacking innocent users' bandwidth.
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