ninemsn launches spam-filtering, content control service - News - Business

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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ninemsn launches spam-filtering, content control service

By Staff writers, Special to ZDNet
August 27, 2003
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/soa/ninemsn-launches-spam-filtering-content-control-service/0,139023166,120277793,00.htm

ninemsn today launched a premium subscription service to compete with AOL's "family friendly" e-mail filtering and parental controls.

The service, dubbed ninemsn Premium, will offer customisable parental controls for filtering and monitoring of children's Internet, e-mail and instant messenger usage. It will also offer spam filtering, an e-mail client more advanced than the standard Hotmail, and come bundled with Microsoft software such as the Encarta encyclopaedia and Photo Plus photo editing software. Content from ACP magazines and Channel Nine TV shows will also be available to subscribers.

The Premium service does not include Internet access, but works on top of any existing Internet connection. It is available from $12.95 per month, with discounts for six-month or one-year contracts. Peter Coroneos, chief executive of the Internet Industry Association and director of online safety advisory body, NetAlert, said, "Making the Internet a safer place for our children requires a combined approach. Parental education, law enforcement efforts and continued support from the industry play an important role, together with technology."

However, a report by the CSIRO commissioned by NetAlert questioned the effectiveness of any Internet filtering software, which was found to be relatively easy to circumvent, to block legitimate content and to allow some pornographic and other offensive content it was supposed to block.

Microsoft and its ninemsn partnership have of late been adding a range of paid-for services to glean more revenue from their subscriber base for free services Hotmail and MSN, such as its Extra Storage feature for Hotmail users.