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AOL E-Mail Delayed as ‘Spam’ Is Canned

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From Associated Press

Ameritech.net, one of the country’s largest Internet service providers, delayed electronic messages from America Online last week to prevent returned junk e-mail from overwhelming its system.

AOL’s system automatically returned junk e-mail messages, called spam, en masse to faked Ameritech.net addresses. Junk e-mailers, who often offer get-rich-quick schemes, weight-loss plans or pornography, commonly use false return addresses to avoid being traced.

The trouble started last week when junk e-mail targeting some of AOL’s 12 million customers listed Ameritech.net as a return address. AOL rejected millions of the messages, returning them to the sender.

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Ameritech.net technicians opted to delay most incoming mail from AOL until the spam storm passed.

“At no time were we delaying all AOL e-mail,” said Rob Lanesey, a spokesman for Ameritech.net. “A majority of them, but not all of them.”

Lanesey said the disruptions were sporadic and lasted for only a few hours at a time. He didn’t have any specific times or dates, but he said that one day last week AOL e-mails were delayed from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m.

“It was going to affect service to our customers,” he said. “We’re devoted to maintaining that service. We don’t want spammers ruining it for everyone.”

E-mail was traveling freely between the two systems Tuesday, the companies said.

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