Challenge Response Filters

AOL bought Mailblocks which makes a popular challenge response filter. It seems that this approach to blocking spam is getting some real traction.

But I must say that I hate these challenge response filters. Often when my mail gets bounced back for a challenge, I just ignore it or delete it and move on. If the recipient thinks their time is more important than mine, then screw them.

And then there’s the fact that I do a fair amount of email offline (planes, trains, hotels, etc). There’s no way to do the response offline, so it goes into the deleted folder.

I sure hope this isn’t the future of email.

Comments

[Stewart Butterfield]

I used one of these (Knowspam) for about a year. I can't say for sure that it was the problem, but I believe the indiscriminate responding (by sending the challenge message) helped drive spam on one of my accounts from about 500-600 a day to over 6000.