Seattle, Apr 29: Three companies representing the world`s largest block of e-mail users joined hands on Monday to fight spam in an acknowledgment of the increasing cost of allowing unsolicited e-mail to clog inboxes, networks and computer memory space.
America Online Inc. AOL.N , Microsoft Corp. MSFT.O and Yahoo! Inc. YHOO.O said they would work together to devise ways to block unidentified messages, stop spammers from creating fraudulent e-mail accounts and work more closely with law enforcement to rein in the practice.

Users fed up with spam, or e-mail touting everything from get-rick-quick schemes to porn and sex toys, are calling on their e-mail service providers to stop the flood of unwelcome advertisements from spammers, or spam senders.

"Spammers are public enemy No. 1," said Nicholas Graham, spokesman at America Online Inc., the Internet unit of AOL Time Warner.

According to a report by Forrester Research, North American online users said more than one-third of their e-mail is junk mail, with the average consumer getting bombarded with 110 unwanted e-mails every week.
America Online has 35 million subscribers, Microsoft`s MSN Internet service has over 9 million subscribers, plus millions more with accounts on their Hotmail free e-mail service. Yahoo does not disclose its e-mail user data.

Taking on spammers is nothing new for these companies, which already employ a variety of technologies to filter out unsolicited messages and thwart their efforts to register for free e-mail accounts that they use as a launchpad for spam.
"It`s not just about using technology, but also building a coalition for more collaboration and more cooperation," said Brian Arbogast, corporate vice president at Microsoft for delivering authentication and mobile service at MSN.

For example, Microsoft, America Online and Yahoo would share the techniques they use to identify e-mail whose author and origins have been concealed.
Bureau Report