Posted 10:09 AM

Microsoft's Caller ID Plan

eWeek reports on the MS Caller ID Plan to fight spam which Bill Gates unveiled at the RSA conference on Tuesday. While its similar to the Sender Policy Framework (SPF) proposal (currently an IETF draft) its different enough so that the two won't interoperate. MS spokesman George Webb, Group Manager of Microsoft's Antispam Technology and Strategy Team, there are things which just aren't in SPF.

Get a clue Microsoft! Join the SPF people and work to improve the standard. Users want spam-fighting tools now, not in-fighting vendors. This could be the straw that breaks the camel's back (at least I hope so). Too often, Microsoft's "embrace and extend" strategy for common standards is abetted by other companies which should know better (IBM, Verisign, BEA, etc.). Enough is enough. SPF may not be perfect, it may need improvement but creating a competing standard is simply not the right answer.