NOVELL NOTES COST OF SPAM IN EUROPE
Jim Kingdon
Nice work, John. I don't see eye-to-eye with y'all on HR 1748, but I
still think this news release is a Good Thing. And thinking to check
for Novell's open relays was a clever idea; I bet news.com and/or some
of the others will pick it up.
A few stylistic nits:
(1) You should have a heading (hed) of 5-10 words, as well as the
subhed (5-20 words) which you already have. At least that is the way
I write/read news releases (see the "Know standard press release
format" section of
http://www.tgeller.com/text/press_relations/prtips.html).
(2) Put all the important information in the first paragraph (but keep
it under 50 words).
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 29, 1998
Contact: John Mozena
Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail (CAUCE)
(313) 885-0414
(810) 595-9964 pager
NOVELL NOTES COST OF SPAM IN EUROPE,
BUT COMPANY'S UNSECURE SERVERS POINT
OUT INADEQUACY OF TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS
In a press release yesterday, corporate network software developer Novell,
Inc. (NOVL) announced the release of a study showing that "Junk E-Mail
Costs British and Irish Business Billions."
The release went on to describe accurately how the majority of Internet
users dislike being deluged with unsolicited advertisements, and suggested
that companies should purchase Novell's GroupWise e-mail server software
in order to survive under the influx of "spam," as junk e-mail is commonly
called.
Network engineers affiliated with the Coalition Against Unsolicited
Commercial E-Mail (CAUCE) tested Novell's own corporate servers, however,
and discovered a major problem.
"Our research showed that anybody, anywhere on the Internet, can relay
mail through Novell," said CAUCE board member J.D. Falk, who maintains the
Coalition's e-mail server.
Unauthorized relaying, where mail is sent from the sender to the recipient
by way of an innocent, usually unaware third party, is a common tactic
used by spammers attempting to mask their identity from unwilling
recipients.
- From various Internet locations, Falk and others tested mail servers used
for corporate e-mail at Novell's United Kingdom offices, as well as the
main Novell offices in Akron, Ohio.
"If Novell's own servers are wide open, chances are all of their customers
are susceptible to this type of abuse as well," added Falk.
This situation illustrates both the lengths to which end users will go to
avoid being spammed and the problems inherent in any technical solution,
say the long-time e-mail abuse activists who make up the CAUCE Board.
"Filters, blocks and other technical tools can cut down on junk e-mail,
but spammers will exploit the holes inherent in any such system just as
they exploit open relays like Novell's," said CAUCE Board member John
Mozena. "If companies and individuals truly want to stop spending their
time and money maintaining expensive e-mail filter systems, they should
join CAUCE in supporting HR 1748, legislation now being considered by the
U.S. Congress that would extend the junk fax law to regulate unsolicited
commercial e-mail."
About CAUCE:
CAUCE is the world's largest "virtual organization," with more than 10,000
members across the United States and supporters across the world. It
supports and works toward passage of HR 1748, sponsored by Rep. Chris
Smith (R-NJ), which would extend the "junk fax" provisions of the
Telephone Consumer Protection Act to include junk e-mail. CAUCE has no
budget, no office and is run by an all-volunteer board using donated
resources. For more information about CAUCE, visit its Web site at
<http://www.cauce.org>.
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