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January 11th 1999 - A recent ruling in favor of Intel Corporation
highlights the increasing threats of spam in the workplace. The definition
of spam has been broadened, as recently illustrated when Sacramento Judge
John R. Lewis ordered Intel ex-employee Ken Hamidi to stop sending mass email
messages to Intel.
Hamidi, who was fired from Intel in 1995, sent email "critical of the Santa
Clara chip giant to roughly 30,000 of its employees," according to an article
by Jonathan Rabinovitz in the San Jose Mercury News on December 4, 1998.
Spam - or unsolicited email - is a growing concern in the workplace. According
to recent testimony provided by the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial
Email to the United States Senate Communications Subcommittee, some companies
estimate that upwards of 30% of their daily email traffic is unwanted. A
recent survey conducted by World Research reports that 700 of 1,000 respondents
want junk email regulated.
The case protecting Intel emphasizes the fact that spam can come in many
forms-it's not limited to commercial solicitations.
According to Linda E. Shostak, a lawyer representing Intel, any kind of spam
is a form of trespassing. "Just because there's now the technology that allows
you to get inside, doesn't mean you can go inside there," Shostak said.
"The Intel case is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of spam issues,"
said Victor Woodward, vice president of Content Technologies. "Companies
must protect themselves against individuals whose emailed messages can clog
the network, increase Internet costs and reduce employee morale and productivity.
Equally important, companies are increasingly legally liable for information
passing through company networks."
MIMEsweeper software
from Content Technologies provides protection from all types of spam. This
content security software can stop spam from reaching corporate Internet
users, or it can separate the spam from regular mail and deliver it to another
mailbox.
MIMEsweeper identifies
and blocks spam by examining it for designated keywords and phrases. It can
also block specific spammers by identifying response destinations, the part
of the email that spammers don't typically change when trying to fool recipients
by masking their addresses.
The most recent email sent by Hamidi accused Intel of forcing out older workers
and planning layoffs. It was one of many he sent over the past two years.
"Our employees don't want to get these messages, so we finally took the action
we needed to take," said Coeta Chambers, a lawyer with Intel's human resources
department.
Reproduced with permission from Content Technologies. MIMEsweeper
is a trademark of Content Technologies Inc.
EDITORS NOTE: more information, including screenshots, on this product can
be found at ReSoft International's web site,
http//:www.re-soft.com/product/mimeswep.htm
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