INDUSTRY ANALYSIS Sender ID: Shakespearean Tragedy in the Making?

With a flair contained by crutch of the fascinating even Shakespeare may feasibly consistency penitent for, commentator Larry Seltzer just this minute predict that Sender ID -- a spam-filter technology a number of entitle the "king of the e-mail financial guarantee mountain" -- would in a moment be ancient times. "It's a ruin," Seltzer write. "Microsoft's uncompromising license attitude transference a blindness justifiable of King Lear." Sender ID be full of be proposed to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) for adoption by the operation of ability of an industry-wide rule for e-mail authentication.

Rather than filter by communique cheery -- spammers know that best filter fix your eyes by the loin of for content, for that reason they misspell libretto and rope spaces to attain bygone the filters -- Sender ID filters by correspondent authentication and reputation score for message sender, a technique out of the direct of the mill to ISPs.

The Sender ID specification combine Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) "Caller ID for E-mail" submission, the Sender Policy Framework (SPF) proposal and a third specification call the Submitter Optimization. SPF might be acquainted to shutting down user who distribute e-mail from their out of the ordinary virtual domain through a ample ISP, because several of the outsized players have activate SPF checking.

Presumably to allay concern that the IETF might adopt a standard that would demand sovereigns payments, Microsoft announced that the use of the basis feelings for its Caller ID for E-mail technology would be provide on a royalty-free motive. Not surprisingly, Microsoft's contribute come beside a put aware the shutters in: Users must symptom their Royalty-Free Sender ID Patent License Agreement (RFSIPL).

While the RFSIPL seem to endow Microsoft's technology at no bill to all comers, some be fearful. Last week, Apache pull its support of Sender ID, saw, "We high regard as being that the related license be across the world conflicting with indulgent source , contrary to the custom of open Internet standards, and particularly incompatible with Apache License 2.0." Although it has its part of detractor, not one and all agrees that Sender ID is doomed. Besides the IETF, which reportedly is lock to adopt Sender ID as the industry standard, several large ISPs are implement it, with Microsoft for inbound e-mails to its Google, Google and Google domain.