Spam is an extremely complex and, so far, remarkably intractable problem, increasingly affecting not just email but virtually every kind of interpersonal electronic communication. In this talk, I will summarize the state of the art, survey the remarkably wide set of antispam activities currently under way at IBM and elsewhere, and present the outlines of a comprehensive strategy to fight spam. Unfortunately, the bottom line remains that we are still working very hard just to keep the spam problem from getting worse, and no one should expect a quick or painless solution to this problem. However, the fight against spam has the potential to advance technology in several ways that might be broadly useful in enabling new kinds of Internet infrastructure.

About the Speaker

Dr. Nathaniel S. Borenstein is an IBM Distinguished Engineer, responsible for research and standards strategy for the Lotus brand. He has been an Internet user, innovator, standardizer, entrepreneur, and social activist since 1980. His credits and collaborations include the MIME standard, the Andrew Mail System, the metamail software, the Safe-Tcl programming language, the first working Internet payment system, the startups First Virtual Holdings and NetPOS.com, "Programming as if People Mattered" and two other books, three patents,and the "One Planet, One Net" manifesto. He is a past president of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, and former faculty member at the University of Michigan School of Information and at Carnegie-Mellon University.