AOL gets tougher on spam

NEW YORK: AOL said it would form a task force and seek tougher legislation against spammers to bolster its efforts to fight spam that clutters inboxes with pitches for everything from mortgages to ways lose weight.

The effort comes as AOL, struggles to build its high-speed business and keep its dial-up subscribers from leaving while contending with federal probes into its accounting and calls from some investors to spin-off AOL if it does not show a recovery soon.

AOL sent out a letter to its 27 million members in the US and said it is also working to fix some of the other issues subscribers have brought up since late last year -- including pop-up ads and connectivity problems. It also plans to unveil new tools to fight spam in the coming months, it said in a statement on Thursday.

Internet users have characterized spam as one of the biggest annoyances of using the Web. AOL and rivals including EarthLink Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN have been unveiling new tools and products to fend it off -- but it continues to persist. AOL also said its subscribers would begin to see a "noticeable" decline in pop-up ads this month as it eliminates "a vast majority" of third-party pop-up ads and internal merchandise and product pop-ups -- an effort outlined in October.

However, the company has said it may still use pop-ups to promote some offers from AOL Time Warner and its businesses.

© Reuters